Wireless Media

www.strategyanalytics.com

December 2019

Nitesh Patel

Tel: +44(0)1908423621

Email: npatel@strategyanalytics.com

Report Snapshot

The outlook for the location industry remains bright. The value of location

intelligence is being increasingly realized by multiple sectors and use-cases

including automotive, mobility, transportation and logistics, advertising, and

others. This report updates our annual benchmark of global location companies,

which compares Google, HERE, Mapbox and TomTom across capabilities like

map making, meeting automotive industry needs, map and data visualization,

and the ability to appeal to developers, among others. HERE demonstrates

strength and leadership across most attributes, followed closely by Google, then

TomTom and Mapbox.

Wireless Media Strategies (WMS)

Location Platform Benchmark Report: 2020

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Contents

1. Executive Summary 4

2. Transformation of the Location Sector 6

2.1 Defining Location Platforms 6

2.2 The Evolution of Map Making & Maintenance 7

2.2.1 Road Map Evolution 8

2.3 Business Model Evolution 9

3. Evolving Location Sector Demands 10

3.1 The Automotive Sector 10

3.2 The Mobility and On-Demand Sector 12

3.3 Enterprise 14

3.3.1 Asset Tracking & Fleet Management 14

3.3.2 Business Intelligence (BI) 17

3.4 Mobile Apps & Services 18

3.5 Location-Based Advertising & Marketing 18

4. Location Platform Benchmarking 20

4.1 Benchmarking Update & Result Summary 21

4.2 Benchmarking Category Results 22

4.2.1 Map Making 24

4.2.2 Map Freshness 28

4.2.3 Automotive Location Services 30

4.2.4 POI and Search 33

4.2.5 Developer Community 34

4.2.6 Map and Data Visualization 36

4.2.7 Openness and flexibility: 37

4.2.8 Vision and Growth Leadership 39

5. Strengths and Weaknesses 41

5.1 Google 42

5.1.1 Strengths 42

5.1.2 Weaknesses 43

5.2 HERE 43

5.2.1 Strengths 44

5.2.2 Weaknesses 44

5.3 Mapbox 45

5.3.1 Strengths 45

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5.3.2 Weaknesses 45

5.4 TomTom 46

5.4.1 Strengths 46

5.4.2 Weaknesses 47

6. How Can We Help You? 48

Exhibits

Exhibit 1 The Location Based Services Value-Chain & Live Data Loop ....................................................................... 6

Exhibit 2 Comparing Map Types Their Need For Different Road Features .................................................................. 8

Exhibit 3 Annual Sales of Navigation Enabled Cars: 2018-2026 ................................................................................ 11

Exhibit 4 Global Active Ride-Hailing User Growth: 2018-2025 ................................................................................... 13

Exhibit 5 Global Cellular IoT Connections: 2018-2025 ............................................................................................... 16

Exhibit 6 Summary of Location Platform Benchmark Scores ..................................................................................... 23

Exhibit 7 Map Visualization Options Provided ............................................................................................................ 37

Exhibit 8 Strengths & Weakness Analysis of Major Location Platforms ..................................................................... 41

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1. Executive Summary

Demand for location services and location intelligence continues to expand across multiple sectors,

including automotive, enterprise and IoT, mobility services, mobile apps and digital advertising. Location

platforms which can meet the needs of key sectors and use-cases will be best placed placed for growth.

Strategy Analytics’ Infotainment and Telematics service estimates annual sales of navigation enabled cars

(excluding HD Maps) will nearly double on 2019 volumes to approach 80 Million by 2026. A rising share of

vehicles sold with embedded data connectivity will provide continued growth opportunities for established (HERE

and TomTom) and new-entrant (Google and Mapbox) suppliers of digital map and location services to the

automotive sector. Industry ambitions for autonomous driving remain in-tact, but greater emphasis is placed on

enabling assisted and semi-autonomous driving in the near term.

Enterprises want to monitor the location and movement of connected devices and assets for the purpose of

achieving greater accountability, improved asset management and better decision making. Strategy Analytics

expects strong growth in IoT, with a 15% CAGR between 2018 and 2025 in the number of cellular connections to

drive demand for location services. Growth in connection volumes will be driven primarily by automotive,

industrial, utilities and transportation sectors.

Accurate ETA (estimated time of arrival) is a driver of customer satisfaction and of operational efficiency for many

types of on-demand services, including taxi-hailing firms, food delivery companies, retailers, logistics companies

and other fleet operators. Location services are also increasingly being used by fleet managers to measure and

score driver behaviour and by providers of vehicle insurance in order to improve operational performance.

In the 2019 Strategy Analytics’ location-platform benchmarking report HERE is a leader across many of our

eight categories, followed closely by Google. Mapbox and TomTom score strongly across several

categories. Competition in the location sector remains intense as both use-cases and demand evolves.

Strategy Analytics annual benchmarking ranks location platforms, Google, HERE, Mapbox and TomTom across

the following eight categories: Map-making, map freshness, automotive, POI search, developer community,

openness and flexibility, map and data vision, and industry vision/ innovation.

HERE remains a joint leader in map-making, and a leader in automotive, industry vision and openness

benchmark categories. HERE ranks highly on map freshness without compromising on validation and quality

control. HERE has made good progress with its strategy to attract enterprise and long-tail developers, and

continues to make improvements in place search and visualization. HERE remains strongly committed to its

vision of enabling an autonomous world with strategic partnerships across target sectors, a multi-platform

approach, and tech innovation the pillars of its strategy.

Google maintains joint leadership in map-making, leadership in map-freshness, leadership in place search and

the size of its developer community. The granularity of Google’s place search is unrivalled. However, its areas of

weakness remain a lack of openness and flexibility. Despite efforts its clear gake business listings remain an

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ongoing challenge due to its crowd-sourced approach. It has made progress in automotive through Android Auto,

and Android OS wins with car makers Volvo, Renault, Mitsubishi and Nissan. Its Waymo fleet of autonomous

vehicles has also expanded beyond the US. Google has significant resources, tech leadership, and a strong

consumer brand in location services as key strengths.

Mapbox is a leader in visualization. Mapbox also scores highly in map-freshness, innovation and openness. In

map-making Mapbox’s reliance on OpenStreetMap (OSM) and probe data enables it to provide map coverage at

scale with low cost. However, community mapping lacks scale, consistency, quality assurance and provenance

to satisfy all needs. To date, Mapbox has made little progress in automotive, but has a broad range of customers

across other sectors, including on-demand services (e.g. Lyft, Scoot), consumer app providers (e.g. Facebook),

and providers of business intelligence tools.

TomTom scores highly across map-making, map-freshness, automotive and openness. TomTom is focused on

automotive and developing its offerings for enterprise and developers. In automotive TomTom has achieved

some good traction with its advanced maps. TomTom has also made progress in visualization tools, by launching

TomTom Styler, and has had success in growing the base of developers using its developer portal, albeit from a

small base. TomTom has also successfully expanded its initial partnership with Microsoft for its capabilities to

span Azure, Bing and Microsoft’s Connected Vehicle Platform.

0

1

2

3

4

5Map Making

Map Freshness

POI Search

Developers

Automotive

Visualization

Openness

Growth Vision

Google HERE Mapbox TomTom

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2. Transformation of the Location Sector

2.1 Defining Location Platforms

Strategy Analytics defines a location platform as a company which provides customers with access to a range of

location services which includes digital map tiles, geocoding (converting street names into coordinates and vice-

versa), traffic-optimized routing, local businesses or points of interest (POIs) search, traffic flow and traffic incident

information, and more. Location platforms enable enterprises and long-tail developers to integrate these horizontal

location services into their own apps and services so developers don’t need to invest their own resources in building

and maintaining their own maps and common location service capabilities, Exhibit 1.

Exhibit 1 The Location Based Services Value-Chain & Live Data Loop

Source: Strategy Analytics

Location-based applications and location services are usually underpinned by a map and supported by geolocation

information provided either automatically via positioning technology like GPS, cell tower/ Wi-Fi signal triangulation,

or manually (e.g. postcode input).

Location platforms also provide tools for businesses, organizations and developers to customize these location

services. For example, from modifying the style of the map tiles or emphasizing specific details such as railway lines

or public transport routes through to fully customized integration of location services into their own apps.

With the proliferation of sensors and connectivity location platforms enable enterprises and developers to integrate

their own first-party data and third-party data with map content and location services to create their own custom

maps, data visualizations, or unique location insights. For example, a real-estate agent comparing average property

prices across a town or city, or retailers mapping cell tower or GPS data traces to identify high-footfall locations

within towns.

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2.2 The Evolution of Map Making & Maintenance

Map making and map maintenance is complex and requires significant investment and expertise in

orchestrating flows of different datasets and content at scale. Only a handful of companies, including

Google, HERE, TomTom and Mapbox, have the capabilities to make and maintain maps at a global level.

Over time, map making techniques have become increasingly sophisticated, automated and cost effective. Modern

map-making and maintenance requires normalizing, combining and conflating data from many different sources:

Imagery: Artificial Intelligence (AI) including using machine learning is commonly applied to analyse satellite,

aerial and crowd-sourced imagery. For example, the imagery captured for Google’s Street View provided Google

with the foundation for its mapping process by applying machine learning technology to automate the extraction

of street names, addresses, and business names from over 170 Billion Street View images across 87 countries1.

Industrial capture: Mapping vehicles equipped with LIDAR captures highly detailed point clouds of roads and

streets which are used to create high-definition (HD) maps to support advanced driving services.

GPS probe data: Statistical analysis of GPS probe data gleaned from GPS enabled smartphones and vehicles is

used to calculate traffic speeds and to assist in detecting changes on the road network, e.g. traffic incidents, new

road geometry, lane-count detection, changes to road travel directions, newly-built roads or roundabouts, or

newly implemented restrictions, etc.

Content partners: Data and content is also supplied by authoritative sources, trusted partners or crowdsourced.

Data provided by authoritative sources is also highly valued in map making. Google claims it leans on more than

1000 authoritative data sources, including the US Geological Survey, the National Institute of Statistics (INEGI) in

Mexico, local municipalities, and housing developers. Google enables its content partners to upload relevant

content via an online ‘Geo Data Upload’ tool.

Crowdsourcing: Community efforts like Open Street Map (OSM), which relies on the contributions of individuals

and organizations, have helped to democratise map making. To date, OSM claims over 1 Million registered

contributors in total. Consequently, basic 2D maps are now considered as tablet stakes, and to some extent have

become commoditized. Expert communities, including GIS specialists and universities are used by location

platforms like HERE to ensure high-quality contributions, and to minimize the risk of erroneous map edits.

Cameras: on cars and smartphones are being used in conjunction with visual recognition and machine learning

to detect and report on changes in real time back to the platform. Live cameras feeds can be analysed in real-

time to segment and capture map content, such as road sign information, and other detectable road features.

Any changes which are detected can be used to update the map over-the-air. e.g. Mapbox’s Vision SDK, and

HERE’s Live Sense SDK.

1 Google Maps 101: how we map the world, July 2019

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Automation enables map-making efficiently and also at scale. HERE has indicated that 70% of map changes are

delivered through automated work streams over the past year, up from 50% last year. TomTom has stated 85% of

its map changes are automated.

2.2.1 Road Map Evolution

Basic 2D maps for visualizing road layout and geometry is largely commoditized. However, other attributes, content

types and real-world features are required for addressing varied and complex use-cases. For example, as

highlighted in Exhibit 2, maps for navigation, referred to as “navigable maps” require more detail beyond basic road

geometry, for example, street sign information, data about the number of lanes, road speed information, and road

type. For ADAS and autonomous driving (e.g. HD Maps), features such as the slope of the road, road curvature,

roughness of the road roughness (e.g. potholes), and road feature measurements to the precision of centimetres

are critical attributes. TomTom classifies a map as ADAS if it supports one of the six core ADAS features, e.g.

speed limit information, road gradient, road curvature, road height restrictions and road weight restriction.

Exhibit 2 Comparing Map Types Their Need For Different Road Features

Source: Strategy Analytics

Other features include POIs/ place information, landmarks, parking structures, the position of trees, and 3D

buildings, etc. are useful attributes to a variety of use-cases, businesses and organizations. For example, in the

future as drones2 are introduced to support last mile distribution of certain products detailed maps of buildings and

the skyline will be a necessity.

2 Drones : Global Consumer & Enterprise Drone Shipments by Region: 2015 to 2023

Map Types Navigable Map ADAS Maps HD Maps

Use-Case • Maps to enable driver navigation e.g. a visual map and proactive audio guidance.

• Powers driver safety and comfort by enabling vehicles to adapt to road conditions.

• Machine map designed to keep car position on the road.

• Requires near real-time updates as road features evolve.

Map Content Features

• Roads hierarchy• Attribution e.g.

• One-way streets • Turn restrictions• Tolls

• Unlikely turns (e.g. few take)

• Addressing e.g. buildings, POI

• Search (POI and addresses)

• Speed limits• Road gradient• Road curvature• Height & weigh

restrictions

Centimetre precision in the position of:• Road lane and junction markings• Road width• Roadside curbs• Road barriers• Road signs and roadside

furniture

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2.3 Business Model Evolution

The business model for location services continues to shift. Both HERE and TomTom license their map content on

a custom basis, and at high margins, to vehicle OEMs and other enterprises. However, in order to deliver location

services to support a growing variety of use-cases at scale, HERE and TomTom have moved towards a platform

approach, where location services are available via the cloud on a transactional basis. For example, developers can

use software development kits (SDKs) or application programming interfaces (APIs) that request map tiles,

geocoding, reverse geocoding or directions on-demand within apps or web services. Each request for these

services is a billable event, and therefore the success of the platform business model (and Google, HERE, Mapbox

and TomTom) will be linked to strong demand for location services from across key sectors. For enterprises with a

need for location services on a large scale, or for customized needs, the licensing model is typically negotiated on a

custom basis.

In automotive, HERE’s Navigation on Demand software-as-a-service business model is a game changer in the

delivery of infotainment services. Navigation on Demand allows car-makers to update and configure the vehicle

infotainment system remotely, enabling updates to the user interface, menus, and apps and services provided. A

SaaS-based model shifts the IVI model from a fee per vehicle to a monthly subscription fee per vehicle. The

success of HERE’s Navigation on Demand will depend on OEMs being prepared to shift away from in-house

software development, and accept a different business model, e.g. expenditure on internal software development

versus an on-going license fee per vehicle. Trends and developments in Infotainment are covered in detail within

Strategy Analytics’ Infotainment and Telematics service.

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3. Evolving Location Sector Demands

Although basic 2D roadmaps are table stakes, there is rising demand for location services and location

solutions to meet the needs of different sectors and evolving use-cases, e.g. autonomous and advanced

driving services, electrical vehicles (EV), IoT, and on-demand transportation services, among others.

For assisted and autonomous driving, machine readable maps which provide centimetre level accuracy and high

levels of detail are essential. For location-based advertising and attribution, accurately identifying the location of

consumers with precision in different retail stores and buildings not only requires highly accurate positioning

technology, but also accurate building level maps and place information. Similarly, for drones to safely navigate to

their destination 3D building and airspace maps are essential. The rest of this section provides examples of the

growth opportunities in some of the main areas targeted by companies in the location-sector.

The automotive sector

The on-demand and mobility market

Enterprise – asset management , IoT, and business intelligence (BI)

Consumer mobile applications

Digital advertising and marketing

3.1 The Automotive Sector

Several forces are influencing the evolution of the automotive sector, creating both opportunities and threats for

location companies, including;

Rising penetration of vehicles with both embedded navigation and data connectivity;

Growing consumer demand for environmentally friendly electric vehicles (EV);

The desire of regulators and carmakers to increase road safety by providing increasing levels of assistance and

support to drivers.

Falling levels of car ownership and rising demand for mobility services, particularly in urban locations;

Vehicles with built-in navigation are becoming increasingly common and provide a continued opportunity

for growth for current providers of in-vehicle navigation and location services. Simultaneously, in-vehicle

connectivity (direct and indirect) is driving the growth of connected and hybrid in-vehicle navigation.

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For carmakers, embedded and connected location services, such as turn-by-turn (TBT) navigation, traffic

information, point-of-interest (POI) search (including parking and gas stations), will remain an important component

of in-vehicle infotainment systems (IVI) over the next five-years.

Strategy Analytics’ Infotainment and Telematics service estimates annual sales of navigation enabled cars will

almost double from 40 Million at the end of 2019 and approach 80 Million by 2026, Exhibit 3. Notably, as navigation

becomes more common in entry-tier vehicles Strategy Analytics expects the attach rate for navigation to increase

from 44% of cars sold to just below three-quarters (75%) over the next 7 years. This total excludes HD maps

required to safely guide autonomous cars, but includes connected cars which will have the ability to deliver live

map-based services to users as part of the connected in-vehicle infotainment (IVI) experience. We estimate the

penetration of vehicle shipments with embedded cellular connectivity (2.5G and above) will rise from 49% in 2019 to

71% by 2025. In depth analysis and forecasts of the infotainment services and telematics opportunity is available

through Strategy Analytics’ Infotainment and Telematics service.

Exhibit 3 Annual Sales of Navigation Enabled Cars: 2018-2026

Source: Strategy Analytics, Infotainment & Telematics

Importantly, demand for different types of location services will evolve with automotive industry demand. For

example, sales of environmentally friendly electric vehicles (EV) are rising due to a combination of regulations and

consumer sentiment. For a growing number of EV owners understanding the effective driving range of their vehicle,

and finding the location of electric charging points along routes is critical. Furthermore, demand for live information

relating to the availability of these charging points and EV-friendly parking spots will remain important as EVs

become more popular.

As the automotive industry aims to enhance road safety, with the aim of reducing and possibly eliminating accidents

caused by vehicles, the provision of sophisticated driver assistance features, known as advanced driver assistance

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systems (ADAS), will become a common feature in modern cars. For example, Strategy Analytics expects the

global penetration of the distance warning feature to reach 73% of light duty vehicles in 2025, with a growing share

(between a third and half) of these relying on an ADAS map. Moving forward, the automotive sector is moving

steadily towards autonomous driving, which will be enabled by high definition (HD) maps.

Over the next five-years autonomous vehicles will account for a negligible share of vehicles sold. However,

beyond this timeframe Strategy Analytics expects the penetration of autonomous vehicles, and therefore

the HD map required to support them, to rise steadily.

Embedded high definition (HD) maps are necessary to enable autonomous vehicles to accurately calculate their

position on the road. Strategy Analytics estimates demand for true HD maps at around 1.2% of light duty vehicles in

2025, but rising to a not so insignificant 10% by 2030.

Both HERE and TomTom are vying for leadership in autonomous driving with their HD Maps through partnerships

with key stakeholders in the future value-chain for autonomous vehicles. Google is also taking a shot at the

autonomous vehicle opportunity through Waymo, its self-driving taxi-fleet, while Mapbox has partnered with Intel’s

Mobileye to stream Intel’s lane level maps, called RoadBook™ via Mapbox’s HD vector tile format at low bandwidth.

Intel’s RoadBook relies on camera-based ADAS systems to harvest real-world details. Mapbox does not have its

own HD Map per se.

The total cost of car-ownership versus alternative transport options, increasing road congestion, and environmental

friendly attitudes are all contributing factors to declining rates of car ownership in busy cities. Therefore, a range of

mobility services, including taxi-hailing, car sharing, pedal-cycle sharing, e-bike and scooter sharing initiatives have

emerged to provide alternative means of transportation in congested urban centers.

3.2 The Mobility and On-Demand Sector

The mobility sector is amorphous, and covers a large number of on-demand use cases, including ride-hailing, car

sharing, micro-mobility, autonomous shuttles, and more. Location services lie at the heart of these services,

whether that is in the form of a digital map to enable passengers to locate the nearest car sharing vehicle, via their

smartphone, or routing, navigation and traffic services to assist drivers of taxi-hailing services, or a dispatch solution

for taxi fleets.

Demand for ride-hailing services is being driven by a combination of strong price competition among providers and

the convenience of booking rides via smartphone apps. Strategy Analytics Connected Mobility service expects

demand for ride-hailing to continue out to rise out to beyond 2025, with a doubling in the number of active users of

ride-hailing services from just over 1 Billion in 2018 to over 2 Billion by 2025, Exhibit 5. A significant driver of this

growth in ride-hailing services will come from Asia, which will account for three-quarters of all active users in 2025.

Strategy Analytics’ Connected Mobility research provides a deep dive into the mobility sector, including forecasts for

ride-hailing and car-sharing.

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The growing use of smartphone centric mobility applications is enabled by the increasing adoption of smartphones,

growing consumer acceptance of mobile payments, and improving access to large bundles of 3G and 4G mobile

data, particularly in emerging mobile data markets.

Exhibit 4 Global Active Ride-Hailing User Growth: 2018-2025

Source: Strategy Analytics, Connected Mobility

Furthermore, strong consumer demand for on-demand ride hailing apps, such as Uber, Lyft, Didi and Ola has

created a need for traditional taxis-fleets to close the technology gap and offer similar consumer experiences. This

includes providing taxi booking apps for consumers which enable consumers to track their assigned car, access

details of the make, model, colour, registration number, and driver of the car, and view up-to-the-minute estimated

time of arrival (ETA), among other features. Location platforms provide mobility companies with a competitive

advantage by providing accurate ETAs based on live traffic information. Accurate ETA increases the satisfaction of

both customers and drivers. Taxi-hailing has been a key battle ground and area of focus of focus location platforms.

Google: Since May 2018 Google has been promoting its Google Map APIs to ridesharing companies, including

ride-hailing firms. Google Maps SDK is used for the main map interface for the Lyft Android application. Lyft also

leverages Google’s Place Search API. Google has invested over $1 Billion in Lyft. The taxi booking app, FREE

NOW (branded mytaxi before Feb 2019), uses Google’s ride-sharing solution in nine countries across Europe

and claims that it increased ETA accuracy by an average of 23% and in some instances as high as 48%.

HERE: In November 2019, VST Mobility announced it is using HERE’s location services to support precise and

accurate ETAs, driver behaviour analysis and post-trip analytics for its intelligent transport management system.

In September 2019 HERE’s mobility division showcased its mobility marketplace to WeWork members at

WeWork Rio Centro during mobility week, enabling the WeWork community to identify key mobility providers.

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HERE Mobility was launched as a new business unit in January 2018, and launched Open Mobility Marketplace

to connect supply and demand for mobility services, in addition to Mobility Dispatch, a solution providing real-time

fleet management. Furthermore, ride hailing platform, Grab, peer-to-peer ride sharing app, Volt, and Localift, an

Australian friend-to-friend ride-sharing application, continue to use a variety of HERE’s location services.

Mapbox: Alcoholic beverage delivery service, Saucey, uses Mapbox navigation. Saucey claims that since it

started using Mapbox in early 2017 that its average delivery time has dropped by 15%. SWAT a provider of smart

bus solutions for corporate commuters in Australia and Singapore uses Mapbox’s map for its passenger app. Tier

Mobility, a Berlin-based micro mobility solution provider uses Mapbox tools to ingest and visualize their fleet data.

Food delivery app DoorDash leverages Mapbox’s directions API, optimization API (to handle multi-destination

routing), and its real-time traffic capability. Lyft and Scoot are also Mapbox customers. Ride-hailing firm Lyft

selected Google Maps to support its app (Lyft Navigation) for drivers. Vá De Táxi in Brazil uses Mapbox APIs,

including for traffic to track and provide ETAs for its drivers.

TomTom: The global ride-hailing giant, Uber, has licensed TomTom’s location services to power its apps since

2015.TomTom and Uber are partners, with Uber providing TomTom with map and location related data from the

field.

Location delivers a competitive advantage and differentiation to horizontal function across a broad range of sectors.

For example, for food and parcel deliveries, taxi-hailing apps, and traditional players in the transport and logistics

sector, estimated time of arrival (ETA) remains an important battleground. Furthermore, the most efficient supply-

chains for manufacturing often rely on just-in-time (JIT) deliveries.

3.3 Enterprise

The digitalization of horizontal business processes across different industry sectors, the growth of IoT, and the need

to drive competitive advantage through data-driven decisions, is driving demand for both off-the-shelf and

customized location services. These functions include, asset tracking, fleet management, on-demand/ mobility

services, and business intelligence among others. The impact of digitalization is felt at various levels across

enterprises. Data is being collected and analysed in near as possible real-time to generate insights to improve

decision making, to increase accountability, and enhance efficiencies and overall business performance.

3.3.1 Asset Tracking & Fleet Management

Improving risk management and providing greater accountability is driving enterprises across industry

verticals to track assets across the supply chain, including fleets of vehicles, parts and employees. Maps,

geo-location, geo-fencing and other services are needed for tracking and managing assets.

Survey work conducted by Strategy Analytics’ Enterprise IoT service during 2018 indicates 48% of companies have

implemented asset tracking (or asset monitoring) services, up from 40% in 2017. Additionally, a further 34% of

companies surveyed indicated plans to deploy asset tracking in the next 12 month, up from 30% in 2017. Notably,

the survey results indicated above average of adoption of asset tracking and monitoring across companies in the

finance, insurance and real estate (FIRE) sector, telecoms, media and technology (TMT), Energy and Utilities and

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finally, and Healthcare and Pharmaceuticals. Strategy Analytics’ Enterprise IoT service intends to update this survey

during 2020.

The economic viability of cellular enabled asset management tags has improved due to a combination of lower

priced cellular enabled RFID tags and falling mobile data prices. The battery performance (and therefore lifecycle)

of cellular-enabled tags has improved significantly, which is also making them more viable.

Strategy Analytics expects a 15% CAGR in the number of cellular IoT connections between 2018 and 2025

to drive demand for location services. Enterprises need to monitor the location and movement of

connected devices for a variety of purposes, including achieving greater accountability, improved asset

management and decision making.

Increasing numbers of IoT providers are offering location and tracking out of the box, not just around cellular, but

also around unlicensed LPWA technology like LoRaWAN. Customers will increasingly have a choice beyond

assisted GPS, depending on power consumption and the level of accuracy required for their particular solution. For

example, some companies may just need to know where an asset is with basic geo-fencing. For example,

warehouse assets like cable drums or the basic position of enterprise fleets to track those assets to a specific depot

or location, which may not require a high level of accuracy. In those cases, even unlicensed LPWA technologies like

LoRa may be sufficient, as long as the network knows what time a signal is picked up by any number of gateways,

so that it is possible to triangulate that to a location with an accuracy of 40-50 meters, perhaps slightly less in dense

urban environments.

For greater levels of accuracy, integrated AGPS/cellular/Wi-Fi sniffing will work very effectively, such as specific

pallet locations or where in a storage rack an item is located. Some companies are also integrating these

capabilities into unlicensed LPWA solutions, such as Actility, which has some patented IP around low power GPS

(through its acquisition of Abeeway), which is a LoRaWAN equivalent of AGPS (Assisted GPS). The network

provides key information to the device preparing to make a fix, which means that the GPS can be active for a

shorter period of time, and acquire fewer satellite signals. The position calculations are then processed in the cloud,

which reduces the battery impact, while still providing GPS levels of accuracy (in many cases sub-10 meters). If a

standard GPS offering has a 1 year battery life and pure LoRaWAN has a 10 year battery life, this solution could

give up to 9 years3

Location services will also be used to enhance augmented reality (AR) which will create a more immersive

experience. AR and real-time location services (RTLS) will be combined on a much bigger scale in order to provide

value to the businesses and customers. In fact, the trend has already begun with airports and hospitals using BLE

Beacons, combined RTLS and Wi-Fi to help staff and passengers find their way through their complex and difficult

to navigate spaces.

IoT presents a future growth opportunity for location platforms as the number of devices connected to the internet

increases. Strategy Analytics’ Enterprise IoT Strategies service estimates the number of devices connected over the

cellular network is set to grow at a 15% CAGR between 2018 and 2025 across a variety of industry verticals. IoT in

3 https://www.actility.com/customer-stories/die-mobiliar/

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Healthcare, Primary Processing and Automotive is set to show the strongest growth. Cellular connectivity will

enable these devices to be tracked or monitored, although clearly not all these connected devices will need support

from location services e.g. geolocation, directions or routing.

Fundamentally, where mobility is a core requirement e.g. Automotive, or Fleet or where assets need to be tracked

e.g. in a factory, or across a supply chain, the greater the need for geolocation services. Traceability in the supply

chain is becoming a very important element of compliance in many industries to guarantee the source of origin, as

well as the integrity of any component. Examples include car parts shipped globally to different suppliers, where

location tracking and identification of the origin is vital, especially in terms of liability should there be a safety recall

on a particular vehicle component. The same is also true in terms of food processing, where traceability is vital in

guaranteeing the integrity of a finished product, for example, if a fast food chain guarantees customers that chicken

nuggets contain 100% chicken breast meat, then suppliers need to ensure they can prove that the chicken nuggets

they produce are sourced from chicken breast, or risk a serious breach of an SLA (service level agreement) with a

customer.

Data recorded by these connected objects will be able to provide contextual information via alerts and can be

visualized. For example, a vending machine which is low on a certain product item, or which has become faulty is

able to communicate its status to head office and can be restocked or fixed.

Exhibit 5 Global Cellular IoT Connections: 2018-2025

Maps and location services such as geolocation, geocoding, routing, and navigation are useful for tracking products

across the supply-chain, from within factories through to delivery to the customer. For example, as parts or assets

move from inside to outside the factory, dispatchers are able to track the position of their vehicles in real time to

provide improved guidance to internal and external customers relating to estimated arrival time. Dispatchers can

also use information about potential delays due to traffic incidents to provide drivers with alternative routing

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information. Furthermore, the digitization of the distribution and logistics sector is enabling haulage companies to

use location services and real-time information to optimize and maximize fleets of trucks and minimize underutilized

capacity.

Strategy Analytics expects competition between location platforms to intensify as a consequence of the

sale of TomTom Fleet by TomTom, greater focus on asset management, and transport and logistics by

HERE, and Mapbox’s increased focus on the fleet and truck sector.

While TomTom completed the sale of its fleet management solution, TomTom Fleet, to Bridgestone in early 2019,

HERE has identified transport and logistics (T&L) as an area in which it can leverage its location content, platform

and services to drive growth. TomTom believes that the sale of TomTom Fleet will increase its opportunity to

provide solutions to companies providing fleet management services TomTom Fleet had previously competed

against.

An expanding area of fleet management includes the ability to monitor and track driver behavior to improve

operational and business performance. HERE’s Vision SDK has been deployed by Dreyev, to support its driver

distraction and drowsiness detection software. Anecdotal evidence indicates significant performance and

productivity gains where fleet owners have implemented driver monitoring and driver performance programs.

Google claims Google Maps is used to support a number of companies which provide fleet management services,

including fleet minder, ABAX, TELETRAC NAVMAN, Vagabond, and Apod. Mapbox cites Transfix and Pole Star as

customers. HERE’s fleet customers include Fleetboard, Calamp, and EPAM (tracking). HERE’s APIs for truck

routing and traffic flow is used by Freight Hub, which provides software to enable companies to track and manage

freight. HERE works with various providers of fleet management solutions, including Vision Trak, Greenmile, Rand

McNally, Glympse, Haiberg, RoadWarrior and Maersk. During 2019 HERE partnered with Glympse to provide last

mile delivery, curbside pick-up and road-side assistance.

3.3.2 Business Intelligence (BI)

Business Intelligence (BI) is an area of growth for location platforms as increasing digitization across

different sectors enables businesses and enterprises to make data driven decisions. Location services help

businesses to visualize and analyse business data in context on maps to identify location-based insights.

Enterprises and businesses increasingly use data from across silos to enhance decision making. Big data and data

analytics tools, which including BI software, is being used to help enterprises make sense of internal and external

data. Strategy Analytics’ Mobile Work Force Strategies service predicts SaaS (Software-as-a-Service) based

business intelligence solutions across small and medium businesses (SMBs) and corporates will grow 15.2% at a

15.2% CAGR from $625.6 Million worldwide at the end of 2019 to almost $1.3 Billion by 2024. The major providers

of BI tools include Alteryx, IBM Cognos, Microsoft Power BI, Microstrategy, and Tableau. Both Alteryx and Tableau

report strong growth in revenue during 2019, reflecting growing demand for BI tools in the sector. Tableau was

acquired by Salesforce for $15.7 Billion in June 2019.

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Maps and location relevant information helps to support a broad number of businesses intelligence use-cases.

Examples of this include location analytics where location data can be used by venue owners to track footfall within

stores and identify areas of high or low footfall, as well as to determine the ideal location of in-store displays and

higher-value products. At a broader level location heat maps based on cell-tower traces can (and is) being used to

determine the best location for businesses, such as supermarkets, and also by local authorities to identify

bottlenecks or busy areas across towns and cities.

3.4 Mobile Apps & Services

From a volume perspective mobile phones, and in particular smartphones, remain the primary device through which

consumers access location-enabled services, such as map apps, turn-by-turn navigation apps, local business

search, and taxi-hailing apps, among others. Many apps are location enabled to provide contextual relevance. e.g.

location enabled weather and news, or to prevent content being viewed by users outside authorised geographies

determined by content rights holders.

The rising population of consumers with GPS equipped handsets combined with a growing base of mobile

data users and an increasing number of users downloading apps from app-stores will boost the total

addressable market for different types of mobile LBS over the next 5 years.

GPS handsets: Annual sales of GPS enabled handsets, which support accurate geolocation, is set to rise from

just above 1.58 Billion at the end of 2018 to just over 2 Billion by the end of 2023, according to Strategy Analytics’

Emerging Device Technologies service.

App-store users: Strategy Analytics estimates the population of users accessing app-stores to download apps

and games will rise from just above 3 Billion at the end of 2019 to over 3.6 Billion at the end of 2024, thus

increasing the addressable market of users able to download location-based applications.

Mobile data users: Apps and services which rely on location based services served in real-time are dependent

on mobile data connectivity when they are out and about. The number of mobile data users is set to exceed 4.4

Billion by 2024.

3.5 Location-Based Advertising & Marketing

Geolocation underpins growth of the $470 Billion global digital advertising ecosystem in three ways:

Audience segmentation: Correlating the geolocation of mobile device IDs (anonymously) against a database of

places (and their boundaries) provides audience insights that underpin ad targeting. The places that people visit,

along with other contextual information such as time of day (and inferred home and work locations) can assist

digital marketers to build anonymised profiles and personas which support targeted advertising.

Digital advertising attribution: Accurate user location information allows advertisers to measure the extent to

which digital advertising drives in-store visits. Google has been measuring store visits (anonymously) since 2014

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and is using this information to demonstrate the uplift in store traffic as a consequence of digital advertising

campaigns.

Location and proximity ad-targeting: The direct use of location to target users with messages based on their

location or proximity to specific physical locations using geo-fencing. For example, Google AdWords enables

advertisers to program their bids for searches on keyword searches conducted within advertiser defined

locations. Equally, local business can leverage user location to prevent them from advertising to potential

customers located in different towns or cities.

The combination of Google’s leadership in keyword search advertising and the popularity of Google Maps and

Android have translated strongly into location-based advertising and marketing. Google’s primary business is

auctioning prime advertising space displayed next to keyword searches conducted by consumers. The highest

bidding advertiser is able to show their advert directly above organic search results. As Google has become an

important consumer channel the more successful it has become at attracting advertising spend and encouraging

business owners to supply Google with verified information about their businesses. E.g. store location, opening and

closing hours and parking information among other information.

HERE has continued its momentum in providing location solutions to players in the digital ad-tech sector. In January

2019 HERE announced that it is providing location data, including places data, building polygons, and venue maps

to Verve, a provider of mobile location advertising solutions. In February 2019 HERE announced that location

intelligence firm, Blis, is using HERE’s Places database to enhance its own POI database. Blis’ POI database is

segmented by location category and audiences, in order to provide contextual insights which can be applied to

location data.

Despite the importance of location data to digital advertising, location fraud remains a key challenge, as highlighted

in our previous reports. A study conducted by Location Sciences, a location intelligence company, during 2019

estimates up to 65% of spend on location targeted impressions is outside of the targeted area or based on signals

of insufficient quality to meet location targeting needs.

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4. Location Platform Benchmarking

The location sector remains both dynamic and competitive. None of the location companies in our annual

benchmark has been static; each enhancing, refining existing offerings, and expanding to provide new

products and solutions. The following highlights for these companies during 2019 include:

As mobility needs shift Google’s efforts have been on adding content and content partners to provide more

electric vehicle (EV) charging point information, and information about bike (and e-bike) stations. Across a

number of countries in South East Asia Google has also recognised it is missing important segments of the road

network which are suited to 2-wheel transportation. Across Asia motorcycles and bicycles play an important role

in transportation (and the economy), and therefore Google has highlighted its intent to double down on mapping

these roads. In a few countries Google has started to apply machine learning (ML) to provide better waiting time

estimates to people waiting to catch buses, where bus companies or authorities are unable to provide this data.

Fighting fake business listings also remains a priority and an on-going challenge for Google.

Through its platform strategy HERE remains committed to expanding beyond providing map content and location

tools to becoming the provider of a comprehensive location-cloud, which enables companies to ingest, process,

analyse, visualize and also monetize big data generated by the proliferation of IoT sensors. HERE’s vision

includes making available its growing base of location APIs to developers via its developer platform and through

its partnership with large developer ecosystems such as Azure, AWS, MuleSoft and SAP, among others. During

2019 HERE has announced wins and partnerships with a variety of companies with different location needs,

including Amazon, Carvi, CitiLogix, Glympse, Hyundai MNSOFT, Mitsubishi Electric, VST Mobility and

WorkWave, among others. HERE’s developer program has seen triple digit growth in both the numbers of

developers using its platform and revenue over the past 12 months. HERE is also doubling down on its activities

in Asian countries where it expects strong future growth. This will be aided by new investment from Mitsubishi

Corp. and NTT in Japan, with both companies holding a combined 30% share of HERE, announced in December

2019.

Mapbox continues to benefit from its strength in map and data visualization. Tableau and Arcadia Data are both

leaning on Mapbox to power map-based visualizations in their analytics platforms. Mapbox also made some

progress in truck navigation, announcing Haulynx is using Mapbox’s truck navigation. Mapbox announced a win

in automotive, with Renesas. Renesas’s digital cockpit reference solution will be powered by Mapbox navigation.

Mapbox has also decoupled its traffic service from its maps, enabling companies to use its traffic services over-

the-top of maps from HERE and TomTom. Mapbox also scored wins with Yahoo, in which Softbank is also an

investor, Porch, and Moji Weather. Mapbox has grown its monthly active developer base from 110,000 to

150,000 during 2019.

TomTom remains committed to growing its core businesses in automotive and the broader enterprise segment.

TomTom continues to expand its relationship with Microsoft, initially a key partner for TomTom’s enterprise

division. TomTom’s location APIs are being used within Azure, Bing Maps and also Microsoft’s connected car

platform. Microsoft claims Azure Marketplace and Microsoft AppSource attract over 3 Million users per month.

TomTom is also working with Microsoft and transit information provider, Moovit, to offer multimodal travel

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planning capabilities to Azure developers in 2020. In the automotive space TomTom highlighted wins with MG

India, Nissan, Fiat Chrysler and VW Group, to supply navigation related services. In HD and autonomous driving

TomTom also announced partnerships with Elektrobit, HELLA Aglaia, Denso and Delphi. TomTom launched

TomTom Styler, to enable customers to more easily customize its maps, in response to Mapbox Studio and

HERE’s Studio (formerly XYZ). TomTom has also successfully grown the base of location developers through its

portal.

4.1 Benchmarking Update & Result Summary

Strategy Analytics benchmarks the relative strengths and weaknesses of Google, HERE, Mapbox and

TomTom across eight critical categories that are relevant for a broad range of location services users.

The categories being used to evaluate the location platforms include map making, map freshness, POI search,

developer community, automotive, map and data visualization, openness and flexibility, and growth and leadership:

Map making: For use-cases and companies where it is essential for close to zero vulnerability from erroneous

third-party map data, companies which are involved end-to-end with the map-making process are considered

more reliable and safe. In the automotive industry where driver safety is paramount location platforms that build

and validate maps by applying a combination of tools including industrial capture, satellite imagery, probe data

and trusted third-parties have provided high levels of assurance.

Map freshness: Providing fresh and up-to-date maps and map content has become table stakes and expected

in the era of “on-demand” services. Furthermore, as the automotive industry evolves towards assisted and fully

autonomous vehicles the requirement for machine maps which enable vehicles to understand its exact position

on the road with centimetre precision in real-time is a critical requirement for safety. Consequently, location

platforms which have the capability to deliver updated and live maps to customers in as close to real-time as

possible will score highly in this category.

Search and Point-of-Interest: One of the key location services is the ability to search for local businesses,

buildings and attractions with high levels of real-time accuracy. Therefore, the size, freshness and accuracy of

the database of places provided by location platforms are key metrics. Higher scores in this section are awarded

based on a combination of the size of place database, how frequently it is updated, its granularity and ability to

customize results for specific use-cases.

Developer community: The location-sector is in the process of evolving from a model where historically

enterprises and businesses licensed the map content and services, to a model where they can access a broader

set of location capabilities, including map tiles, geocoding, routing, place search, traffic data and more, through

application programming interfaces (APIs). A high score in this section is awarded to platforms that have

captured a large share of developers of all types, and that provide a broad range of tools for developers.

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Automotive: The automotive sector remains a critical source of revenue and demand for the location sector, and

therefore the ability to service both current and emerging needs of vehicle makers cannot be ignored. In this

category we award higher scores to companies which have announced deals and partnerships to supply key

players in the automotive space with location services and solutions.

Map and data visualization: The need to provide customized map views and visualization of location data is

likely to vary significantly according to both use-case and company. Some companies may want to provide a

highly customized type of map to suit a specific use-case, or to toggle between different visualization options for

a specific dataset. In contrast, for other companies it will be less important to customize either map or data

visualization. Companies offering the broadest and most customizable set of data visualization solutions will

score highly in this segment.

Openness and flexibility: Providing an open and flexible location platform means enabling companies to layer

in their own location data onto the map, or to pick and choose which location services to use from different

providers. Also, some companies may want to customize certain features and capabilities, e.g. a retailer filtering

the location of its own stores in the results of a search query, or customizing some code or an open API request.

Industry growth and leadership: As highlighted in section 3 of the report the opportunities for growth in the

location sector will come from supporting autonomous vehicles, the on-demand mobility sector, and a rising

demand for location intelligence with respect to asset tracking, fleet management, and IoT as businesses

embrace big data. Companies which communicate strong growth ambitions across some of these key location

sectors, either directly or through partnerships will score the highest marks.

4.2 Benchmarking Category Results

Competition across each category remains fierce between platforms Google, HERE, Mapbox and TomTom.

The importance of different capabilities and strengths varies based on use-case, sector and individual

company requirements with HERE leading overall and Google following.

Google is a leader in POI search, map freshness, and developer community, and a joint leader in map making. It

is making progress in automotive, but its closed approach to competition in listings, directories, advertising,

navigation, and sharing user data remains a weakness for businesses and developers seeking openness and

flexibility. Despite leading in POI and place information, fake business listings remain an on-going challenge.

Google leads in the developer category by virtue of its base of millions of developers. However, Google’s

increase in location service pricing during 2018 will leave it vulnerable as HERE, Mapbox and TomTom aim to

attract disaffected Google Map developers looking for alternatives.

HERE leads the overall scores and ranks highly across the majority of categories. It remains a leader in map

making and automotive, has an aggressive and leading vision for the growth of the location sector. HERE is both

independent and open. HERE has strong roots in supplying location content and tools to automotive companies

and large enterprises, and continues to close the gap in POI search, visualization and the long tail portion of the

developer community. HERE has become more customer focused and as a consequence has a strong roadmap

of APIs which it aims to introduce over the next 12 month. HERE’s efforts in aggregating vehicle sensor data

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across car makers is a strategic move and HERE is poised to benefit as the proliferation of data from connected

sensors grows and as businesses seek to add context and gain further competitive advantage from this data.

Mapbox is a leader in visualization and comes in joint second place in map freshness and openness. Mapbox’s

location services are being used by some large consumer app providers. Mapbox is developer friendly, coming

second to Google based on the size of its developer community, but is also open, independent and flexible.

Mapbox’s reliance on OSM is perceived a weakness for enterprises and industries where the consistency and

provenance of map data is considered essential, though this has not prevented Mapbox from gaining traction

with businesses across a broad range of sectors.

TomTom’s is almost on par with Google and HERE for its map making and on par with HERE for freshness.

TomTom has achieved a high score for openness and flexibility, enabling developers to mix and match location

and data sources. TomTom’s visualization score has improved with the availability of TomTom Styler, and it has

made progress in attracting developers through its strategic partnership with Microsoft’s Azure. TomTom remains

strong in automotive as it claims strong traction for its ADAS and HD maps among OEMs.

In the table below Exhibit 6 the scores in parenthesis are those awarded in last year’s benchmark report.

Exhibit 6 Summary of Location Platform Benchmark Scores

Source: Strategy Analytics

0

1

2

3

4

5Map Making

Map Freshness

POI Search

Developers

Automotive

Visualization

Openness

Growth Vision

Google HERE Mapbox TomTom

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Google HERE Mapbox TomTom

Map Making 5(5) 5(5) 3(3) 4(4)

Map Freshness 5(5) 4(4) 4(4) 4(4)

POI Search 5(5) 4(4) 3(3) 3.5(3.5)

Developers 5(5) 4(3) 4(4) 2.5 (2)

Automotive 3(3) 5(5) 2(2) 4.5(4)

Visualization 4(4) 4(4) 5(5) 3.5(3)

Openness 2(2) 5(5) 5(5) 5(5)

Growth Vision 4(4) 5(5) 4(4) 3.5(3)

Source: Strategy Analytics

4.2.1 Map Making

Our scores in this category remain largely unchanged with Google and HERE retaining top marks. Both

have significant resources and partnerships to provide comprehensive digital maps at scale, and to

address a broad range of use-cases, including autonomous driving, transport and logistics, the mobility

sector and others.

Google HERE Mapbox TomTom

Map Making 5(5) 5(5) 3(3.5) 4(4)

Modern map making leadership demands the orchestration of different, complimentary data sets to build maps that

are detailed and accurate at scale, particularly as digital map requirements evolve towards high-definition and near

real-time updates. Validation of map details is essential where safety is critical.

As described in section 2.2 location platforms Google, HERE, Mapbox and TomTom each leverage data from

different sources, including industrial capture, imagery (aerial, satellite, crowdsourced), authoritative data sources,

and continuous flows of probe data from millions of probes, to maintain, improve and quality check their map

databases continually. The ability to combine and conflate vast amounts of data from these different sources at

scale is essential to offering customers comprehensive, reliable, accurate and fresh maps to address a broad

number of use-cases. The validation of data and content from different sources remains a critical step, particularly

as the map-making process becomes increasingly reliant on automation. For example, Google has enriched its map

content by partnering Lime to add scooter, pedal bike and e-bike stations across 80 cities and added EV charging

station information in the US and UK from operators including Chargemaster, Ecotricity’s Electric Highway, Source

London and Podpoint. TomTom has partnered with ChargeHub to gain access to its EV charging database.

Both Google and Mapbox rely on crowd sourced data to differing extents. For example, Mapbox is the only

company in our benchmark which does not own its map, which underpins its low score in this category. Instead,

OpenStreetMap is the foundation of Mapbox’s map. Mapbox relies on over 150 separate data sources, including

satellite and street-level imagery, content from authoritative sources e.g. inputs from governments, road authorities,

expert communities, its partners, and from crowdsourced inputs. For crowdsourced inputs Mapbox uses what it calls

a “double validation monitoring system” to ensure malicious or erroneous edits made in OSM are prevented from

appearing on its maps. Mapbox uses artificial intelligence (AI) system to flag up changes daily for human review,

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and claims that many of its core map layers are not easily edited. For map maintenance and traffic data Mapbox

relies heavily on anonymous GPS probe data collected via partner apps to detect map changes on a near live-basis

e.g. where new turn restrictions have been implemented or when a new road has been added to a street network.

Strategy Analytics believes that Mapbox’s reliance on OpenStreetMap (OSM) is a relative weakness for

enterprises and use-cases that demand consistent quality control, provenance, security and high levels of

assurance that map data has not been compromised. Google also faces challenges with crowdsourcing.

With over 1 Million monthly contributors OSM’s map detail can be very accurate and granular in certain

geographies, but simultaneously, lacking in others. Although Mapbox (along with other organizations) contribute to

OSM, edits to OSM by the long tail of contributors are not always reviewed for errors. This inevitably introduces

inconsistency in the quality of edits. The vandalism of digital maps is a clear risk for location platforms which depend

on community input, as highlighted when Mapbox’s map of New York was defaced in August 2018. Mapbox claims

this malicious edit was flagged up by its checking system (described above), but that it was published because of

human error. Mapbox has placed further safeguards to mitigate the risk caused by erroneous or mischievous edits.

In 2017 Google closed down Google Map Maker (its community map editing platform) following a lengthy review

which was initiated by several similar abuses of Google Maps. Most recently though, in June 2019, the Wall Street

Journal ran an article “Millions of Business Listings on Google Maps Are Fake – and Google Profits,” which

underlines the inherent problems, and potential consequences, caused by reliance on crowdsourced approaches

for acquiring map content.

Despite these challenges, it should be noted that well-known consumer apps with large active user bases in the

hundreds of millions, including Snapchat, Tinder, Weather Channel, DoorDash, and others continue to embrace

Mapbox’s map and location services. It’s clear that Mapbox’s OSM foundation is not a barrier for a range of

businesses. The advantage of Mapbox’s approach is it does not directly invest significantly in its own map making,

and consequently operates on a lower cost base to competitors.

Maps and location services need to support a variety of evolving use-cases. Therefore, the challenge for

industry players is to provide maps and location services which support the business objectives of a broad

(but often related) set of use-cases and demands, efficiently.

Truck and electric vehicle navigation, mobility services, detailed building boundaries, and high-definition (HD) maps

are just some examples of the use-cases which mapping and location platforms support.

Truck and electric vehicle navigation: Maps and location services used for personal car navigation require

different features and attributes to those for truck navigation. Trucks and large good vehicles are too large in size

and heavy for small roads, and for routes taking them over or under bridges with weight and height restrictions. For

example, in the UK Network Rail (responsible for the UK rail network) stated that on average it is seeing 5 avoidable

railway bridge strikes per day across Britain. Therefore, maps for truck navigation need to take these attributes into

consideration to guarantee the safety of road users. The map attributes and services required to support electric

vehicles (EV) need to accommodate information about the location of EV charging points. Accurate ETAs are a

source of competitive advantage for companies operating in the transport and logistics sector, and for taxi and ride-

hailing services.

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Two-wheel road network: In some emerging markets, like South East Asia, where motorbikes and bicycles are

used heavily for transport the two-wheel road network is just as important as the car-centric road network. Google

has indicated it is doubling down on increasing the number of roads mapped in South East Asia, in order to capture

narrow roads which are used by two-wheel vehicles like motorbikes and scooter, which it has not mapped

effectively using existing methods. HERE has also identified South East Asia as an opportunity for growth and we

expect it to address the very same issues.

Building footprints and venues: HERE’s 2D building footprints provide highly accurate building boundaries to

meet the needs of delivery companies, taxi-hailing services and advertisers, among others. This level of detailed

mapping enables more precise addressing, which improves the navigation experience for delivery drivers, taxis,

consumers, and also enables effective use of location in advertising, e.g. accurate attribution. Google’s shop visit

capability for retailers needs to also accurately define retail boundaries. Shop visit enables retailers to evaluate

whether digital advertising seen by consumers have directly resulted in visits to their stores. Google and HERE also

support venue maps.

Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) and High Definition (HD) Mapping: As highlighted in section

2.2.1, ADAS maps and HD Maps differ from the traditional driver-centric navigation systems. ADAS and HD maps

are machine maps designed to enable vehicles to assist drivers to make driving decisions, and for vehicles to make

decisions based on attributes related to the features of the road. For example, ADAS maps (which support Level 1

and Level 2 assisted driving) includes information about road curvature (along with other attributes), which enables

the power-train to make decisions about the optimal speed to enter a turn. A HD Map with centimetre precision

allows the vehicle to know its exact position on the road at any given time. In this instance vehicle positioned can be

calculated based on the relative position of detectable road features like road markings, lanes, barriers, sign-posts,

and traffic lights.

HERE retains leadership in ADAS and HD maps, followed by TomTom and Google. HERE and TomTom

have announced partnerships with OEMs and Tier 1 solution vendors over the last two years, while

Google’s Waymo subsidiary is focused on operating autonomous taxi fleets.

Strategy Analytics Autonomous Vehicle Strategies service provides a deeper dive into the HD Mapping sector, and

will update its report “HD Maps and Positioning for Autonomous Driving,” during 2020.

Google does not license ADAS or HD maps to OEMs or suppliers, but is keeping its self-driving technology for its

Waymo self-driving fleets. Fiat Chrysler has partnered and supplied vehicles to Waymo since 2015, and in March

2018 Jaguar Land Rover became a strategic partner for Waymo’s fleet of autonomous Jaguar I-Pace vehicles.

During 2019 Waymo has expanded beyond the US. In June 2019 Google’s Waymo announced a partnership with

Renault and Nissan to explore driverless mobility services in France and Japan, respectively. Waymo claims its

technology has navigated over 10 Million miles on public roads, the vast majority of which is in the US.

HERE has maintained its leadership in HD maps. HERE has mapped over 1 KM of road globally in high definition.

During this year HERE has announced an alliance with HYUNDAI MNSOFT, a subsidiary of Hyundai KIA, to

develop HD Maps and location services. Both companies will collaborate on dynamic HD maps and HERE will

develop its presence in South Korea. HERE’s partnership with Daimler will see its HD Live Map integrated into

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Daimler’s autonomous driving technology for Mercedes Benz vehicles. HERE also signed its first commercial

contract with BMW to bring its HD Live Map into production models from 2020 onwards. HERE’s other customers

for ADAS and HD maps include Mitsubishi, Audi, Ford, Bosch, and others.

During 2019 TomTom has made advancements in HD maps, in addition to supporting assisted and autonomous

driving. In March 2019 it announced it had closed deals with multiple top 10 carmakers for HD maps that support

Level 1 and Level 2 vehicles. TomTom also states it is powering half a million Level 1 and Level 2 enabled vehicles

currently on the road. TomTom is also collaborating with HELLA Aglaia, a supplier of computer vision software, for

real-time map updates, and announced a HD map horizon for autonomous driving with automotive software vendor,

Elektrobit.

Mapbox Drive has been created to support semi-autonomous driving (Level 2 and Level 3) and offers lane

guidance. However, Mapbox does not have its own HD Map. Instead, Mapbox’s HD vector tile format is being used

by Intel to refresh Mobileye’s RoadBook ™ maps in vehicles.

Map Countries Coverage

Our rating for map making also considers country coverage supported by vendors. Each provider claims to offer

global coverage for basic and navigable maps, although in China, Japan and Korea country regulations act as a

barrier to providing location services in those markets, unless specific conditions are met. In China, foreign

countries are prohibited from map making unless they work with a local partner. In Korea, map data must reside in

Korea, and cannot be exported.

Most notably, Google services are banned in China, and therefore Google is unable to participate in detailed map

making while Google Maps is blocked. TomTom lacks coverage in both China and Japan, although has developed

partnerships with Japanese firm DENSO on its software platform for autonomous vehicles.

Asia remains an important region for development and growth for HERE. In February 2019 HERE extended its suite

of location services (including maps, routing, navigation, public transit, traffic, geocoding, places and geolocation) to

China in partnership with NavInfo, via its joint venture (HAN Technologies) with the company. Therefore, HERE

customers have access to location services in China. As highlighted in last year’s report HERE is part of the

OneMap Alliance, along with Pioneer’s Increment-P (Japan), NavInfo (China), and Hyundai MNSOFT (South

Korea), which will guarantee high definition maps that align with HERE’s HD Live map specification to be available

across Japan, China, South Korea, and other countries globally.

In July 2019 at SoftBankWorld Mapbox announced the start of its operations in Japan, in addition to partnerships

with Japanese location provider, Zenrin (to improve map coverage in Japan) and also with Yahoo! Japan. Mapbox’s

location services will power the digital properties of Yahoo! Japan, including news, weather, search, shopping,

auctions and others across mobile and PC. Yahoo! Japan is backed by SoftBank. Mapbox covers China through

partnership with eMapgo Technologies, which claims to be one of the top three mapping companies in China.

Overall, Mapbox offers real-time traffic based navigation in fewer countries globally than its rivals.

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Indoor and Venue Maps

Map making also extends to indoor environments and large public venues as consumers increasingly expect the

outdoor navigation experience to be available everywhere. Google claims to have indoor maps available for over

10,000 locations worldwide, while HERE claims over 25,000 venues across 80 countries. Furthermore, HERE’s

Venues Marketplace provides a single point for venue owners to provide their floorplans for publishing across

different sources. In contrast, Mapbox relies on partnerships for indoor maps. For example, Mapwise, an indoor

mapping platform, is using Mapbox to enable indoor navigation on its platform. The Mapwise Indoor Maps SDK is

built on Mapbox, and created a plug-in for Mapbox developers. TomTom currently does not offer indoor maps.

4.2.2 Map Freshness

Map freshness involves updating maps on an ongoing basis to ensure road features and road attributes

remain up-to-date. Google and Mapbox typically publish these changes in near real-time, HERE and

TomTom update on a weekly cadence to meet the validation requirements of its customers.

Google HERE Mapbox TomTom

Map Freshness 5(5) 4(4) 4(4) 4(4)

The historical batch process for map-making has shifted towards transactional map-making. Instead of updating and

then publishing maps on an annual or quarterly basis, the ability to automate data collection and analysis has

resulted in the frequency of updates shortening considerably. Consumers are not prepared to accept out-of-date

maps and near real-time maps are essential to support the vision of autonomous driving. Continuous data and

content flows from GPS probes, imagery, crowdsourcing, authorities, and industrial vehicles have enabled real-time

map maintenance. Location platforms like Google Maps and Mapbox claim their maps are updated as soon as

changes are detected and validated using AI techniques. While both HERE and TomTom make map updates using

similar techniques, the refreshed maps and map data are made available to customers on a weekly cadence,

following certification and validation. HERE has indicated it has made massive progress towards daily updates, for

example in France 1 Million km of speed limit data is updated each day. This is aided by automation. HERE states

around 70% of map updates are automated. HERE also updates it places extract within 24 to 48 hours following

verification, and the search API. 85% of TomTom’s map-making process is automated.

Stringent certification and validation of map data is critical to guard against erroneous or malicious data,

particularly for safety critical use-cases, or where high-levels of trust in the data are expected.

As highlighted in the previous section of the report, reliance on crowd-sourced edits, without strong verification, can

result in the proliferation of millions of fake business listings which are being used for nefarious purposes or for the

publication of malicious content across multiple apps and platforms.

Furthermore, weekly refresh rates have not been a barrier to either HERE or TomTom from supporting some major

consumer-facing companies. HERE’s customers include Amazon, Baidu (outside China), Bing Maps, Facebook (for

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online maps), and Tencent (outside China), among others. TomTom has also scored wins with Bing Maps, Azure

Cloud, Trivago and Zenly.

In the automotive sector the precise maps required to support automated driving need to be updated on a real-time

basis. This demand is driving both HERE and TomTom to deliver real-time map updates for customers and use-

cases that demand live maps.

Google, HERE and TomTom have each introduced tools which enable the companies to keep the live

content on their map fresh, proactively through partner input or proactive content searching.

Tier 1 and enterprise partners of these location platforms have a key role in keeping content up-to-date by sharing

probe data from their vehicle fleets, consumer smartphone apps, and other sources, and also through other

feedback channels.

In October 2019 Google announced the launch of tools within its Google Maps application to enable drivers to

report crashes, speed cams, and traffic congestion. Furthermore, across 40 countries Google is enabling users to

report incidents via the Google Map iOS and Android app, including construction, lane closures, disabled vehicles,

and objects on the road. Google’s base map partner program is designed to enable organizations (governments,

local authorities, educational institutions, etc.) which have access to authoritative data sources to license their map

content to Google. Google states it typically does not pay organizations for this content, so is relies on these

sources to be proactive in providing data. HERE takes a proactive approach to identifying activities or events which

will impact journeys for users, such as announced road closures for maintenance, or events. HERE searches and

scrapes through relevant online content sources (e.g. local news) to identify, extract and verify information at scale.

In October 2019 TomTom launched its TomTom Road Reporter product across 81 countries. Road Reporter is a

web-based tool to enable road authorities and large enterprise partners (e.g. Uber) report current and upcoming

events which will impact traffic, e.g. road maintenance, events, etc.

Statistical analysis of large volumes of anonymised GPS probe points and sensor data from smartphones

and fleets of GPS-equipped vehicles is a key data source for modern map maintenance and healing.

GPS probe data is used to detect changes in the real-word as well as to calculate traffic flow and provide alerts

about potential traffic incidents. Detected changes are cross-referenced and conflated with other sources of map

data (e.g. satellite imagery, mapping vehicle survey data, or content and feedback from trusted partners), before the

updated map is made available to location platform users.

Google: With over 1 Billion users of Google Maps on their phones, Google has the largest number of consumer

probes of all its location platform competitors. Google states that it updates its map 25 Million times each day, no

change on last year.

HERE: Claims it processes 7 Billion probe points each day generated from millions of vehicles globally, up from

4.9 Billion probe points daily last year. To deliver additional advanced driver services HERE ingests and analyses

sensor data from over 400,000 vehicles, such as cameras to support road sign validation, and breaking sensors

to detect hard braking enable. This enables HERE to support advance automotive services for OEMs to

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implement to enhance driver safety. For example, HERE’s hazard warning service, road signs, and real-time

traffic services are powered by sensor data from fleets of enabled vehicles. However, HERE is aware additional

OEMs and partners are required in order to increase the scale and effectiveness of these services and in June

2019 joined the European Data for Road Safety initiative to enable this goal.

TomTom: TomTom states it uses probe data from 600 Million connected devices (smartphones, navigation

devices and telematics systems), a rise of 50 Million from 2018. TomTom claims automation has enabled it to

process 2.35 Billion modifications to its database in August 2019, an increase on the 1.5 Billion monthly changes

per month reported in 2018. These include changes to road geometry, road features, altered junctions, new POIs

or addresses using a combination of GPS probe data, community input from hundreds of Millions of map users,

local map technicians and mobile mapping vehicles. However, while the average number of changes is double

that of Google these updates are made available to customers on weekly basis.

Mapbox: Mapbox anonymously collects location probe data from over 640 Million monthly active app users

which use the apps of Mapbox’s customer base, up from 420 Million in 2018. GPS location from these

smartphone app users is essential to Mapbox’s ability to provide live location services. It collects 14 Billion

anonymous sensor reading which are used to offer its traffic services and which are used to make 100,000 daily

changes to its maps. Mapbox will supplement GPS traces with data streamed via its Vision SDK, which uses AI

to identify road features in real-time without data connectivity.

While probe-based data can be used effectively for change detection and traffic flow patterns, it is insufficient for

collecting the number of attributes required to meet all use-cases, including ADAS and HD maps, or for supporting

truck routing. Furthermore, without truly ubiquitous scale probe-data is not guaranteed to reach all areas, and

therefore some parts of the map may take longer to get updated than others. For example, Mapbox provides highly

accurate travel times for 16 countries, moderately accurate travel times for 39 countries and limited predictability for

the other countries.

Mapbox launched its Vision SDK, to enable cameras (on smartphones or vehicles) to identify and capture vital road

information on a continuous basis at scale. In the same way that Mapbox is able to extract anonymous GPS probe

data from apps which use its SDK, Vision SDK will enable Mapbox to crowdsource road information to collect and

maintain a higher definition version of its current map. Mapbox has not released details relating to its HD coverage

at this point in time, but has created HD Vector Map specifications and partnered with Intel’s Mobileye to stream

Mobileye’s RoadBook (lane level maps) from cloud to car using the specification.

4.2.3 Automotive Location Services

HERE remains a leader in automotive, followed by TomTom. Both are steadfastly committed to providing

innovative and differentiated services to enable vehicle makers address strategic challenges. Google has

clearly made headway through Android Auto and Android OS, while Mapbox’s success remains a marginal.

Google HERE Mapbox TomTom

Automotive 3(3) 5(5) 2(2) 4.5(4)

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As discussed in section 3.1 of this report several forces are influencing the evolution of the automotive sector,

creating both opportunities and threats for location companies. Ultimately, location companies able to help

companies in the automotive market to navigate these evolving needs are best positioned to succeed in this sector.

Strategy Analytics believes established global suppliers of location services to vehicle makers, HERE and TomTom,

remain well placed to meet the evolving needs of the automotive sector. However, both Apple’s and Google’s

ambitions to power the in-vehicle infotainment experience with their consumer friendly solutions remains a

persistent threat given their popularity among consumers.

The automotive sector remains a critical source of revenue to HERE and TomTom. Historically, both have a strong

position in the automotive industry through licensing map content and traffic services to car OEMs and vehicle

infotainment makers for use in vehicle head units. TomTom’s automotive revenue reached €246 Million in 2018 and

accounts for 36% of its total revenue. HERE is privately owned by car makers Audi, BMW, Daimler, with

Continental, Intel and Pioneer also shareholders. While HERE does not report revenue its primary revenue is from

suppliers and OEMs in the automotive sector. HERE states its map data and services are available 4 out of 5

vehicles sold with embedded navigation systems in North America and Western Europe, and that over 150 Million

vehicles have HERE maps on board. Both HERE and TomTom continue to report significant wins and key

partnerships with companies in the automotive sector during 2019.

HERE has announced wins with Hyundai Motor America and Volvo. HERE will power navigation for the new

electric Jaguar I-Pace, and provide the EV location services for the new electric Porsche Taycan. HERE is also

providing real-time traffic to Audi and Daimler vehicles in North America. HERE has also gained some notable

success in moving up the value-chain in the luxury tier, with Jaguar embedding HERE’s HERE Auto guidance

solution into both its XJ and XF flagship models. Audi integrated HERE Auto in the Audi A8, likewise Acura.

TomTom’s automotive revenue is growing, up 12.6% for the first three quarters of 2019 to €196.5 Million versus

the same period in 2018. It has announced wins with MG India to provide the full stack of navigation components

to connected vehicles. Similarly, TomTom will provide connected navigation services to Fiat Chrysler for its Jeep

Renegade and Compass models. Nissan will deploy TomTom’s maps, traffic and search to its Nissan Connect

infotainment unit on its Leaf, and provide VW with its traffic service globally.

Both HERE and TomTom remain committed to enabling car makers to control and provide their own

branded infotainment and navigation systems, in addition to products and services that underpin higher

levels of driver assistance and safety.

HERE provides live connected vehicle services, including road hazard warnings, road sign information, real-time

traffic information in addition to features supporting ADAS and HD maps. Most significantly, HERE’s Navigation On

Demand SaaS solution changes up how vehicle OEMs can deliver infotainment and navigation services in the

future, providing OEMs with a framework through which they can control the vehicle IVI over-the-air in a modular

fashion e.g. updating the UI, or introducing new apps, services and features. Strategy Analytics considers these

kinds of service as significant service differentiators for HERE, although achieving further scale across a greater

range of OEMs remains imperative. TomTom offers IQ Maps for connected vehicles, which updates maps on-

demand, based on the route which users are taking. By only updating the portion of the map relevant to the driver,

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IQ Maps eliminates the need to download the entire country or region map, which would generate a large volume of

irrelevant data. IQ Maps is implemented on MG connected car which will be sold in India.

HERE and TomTom’s dominance in supplying location services to car makers (e.g. navigation, traffic, and

local search) is under threat as both Google targets the evolving automotive sector for growth. Mapbox

continues to struggle to gain traction in automotive beyond a handful of deployments.

Google is a relative new entrant into providing location services to car makers, but has achieved notable wins.

Google’s Android OS win with Volvo, Renault, Nissan and Mitsubishi. These vehicle makers have confirmed they

will ship cars with infotainment services built on Android OS. Nissan, Renault and Mitsubishi have effectively

handed control of the in-car experience, and the end user, to Google. The integration of Android in the vehicle will

be customized to meet the needs of the car makers, though Google remains in control of data linked to the services

it provides drivers, e.g. Google Maps, local search, and Google Assistant. The adoption of Google’s vehicle

mirroring system, Android Auto, by a large number of car makers demonstrates that vehicle makers are prepared to

work with non-traditional suppliers of navigation service and components of the vehicle IVI.

Despite Google’s wins Strategy Analytics does not expect Google to be successful in supporting advanced driver

services. Vehicle makers wish to remain the guardians of first-party vehicle sensor and driver data and some are

taking greater control of software and infotainment development in-house, e.g. Ford with its new SYNC 4. Car

OEMs will likely remain wary of Google and Strategy Analytics expects the majority of OEMs will most likely seek to

retain control of the software used in their vehicles.

Despite the traction of smartphone mirroring solutions Android Auto and Apple CarPlay over the past two

years Strategy Analytics is seeing signs of a levelling off of demand in the US and Western Europe.

Consumer research from our In-Vehicle UX service shows that interest and demand for these smartphone mirroring

systems has levelled off both in the US and Western Europe4. For example, in the US just 33% of respondents

viewed CarPlay as a must have feature for their next vehicle, up by just 1% from 2018, while just 23% of

respondents identified Android Auto as must have, down from 36% in 2018. Directionally, Strategy Analytics

witnessed similar results in Western Europe. Usage and satisfaction of smartphone mirroring solutions has been

assessed in out report Smartphone Mirroring in 2019: Cracks in the Armor for Android Auto and CarPlay, which

specifically identifies emerging weaknesses identified by consumers.

Mapbox has not announced significant new activity in the automotive sector during 2019 and continues to

play around the margins. Mapbox remains a laggard in this category behind Google, TomTom and HERE.

Mapbox’s customer references in the automotive sector include NNG, Porsche, Mobileye and Samsung. In June

2019 Mapbox announced Renesas will use Mapbox navigation SDK for its digital cockpit reference solution.

4 2019 Infotainment Report: New Warning Signs for Terrestrial Radio, Strategy Analytics, June 2019

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4.2.4 POI and Search

HERE has overtaken Google in terms of the total number of POIs. HERE has reached 200 Million places

while Google continues to report 150 Million. However, Google continues to provide a superior level of

granular information in its business listings, though fake listings remain an on-going challenge.

Google HERE Mapbox TomTom

POI Search 5(5) 4(4) 3(3) 3.5(3.5)

In our previous reports we’ve based scores for POI and search on the number of POIs offered. However, as end-

users increasingly expect accurate, granular and real-time information from searches we are taking into

consideration how frequently the POI information is updated and made available to users of the platform.

Google remains a leader in POI and search covering 150 Million places across 200 countries. While HERE has

surpassed the number of POIs supported, Google provides a granular level of information for its business listings,

including opening times, parking availability, place reviews, restroom facilities, and more which is unrivalled by its

competitors. Google claims to have over 120 Million local guide members, up from 50 Million local guides last year.

Local guide members are users of Google Maps that contribute by answering questions about the places they have

visited. Google claims local guides and business owners (via Google My Business) receive over 20 Million

contributions per day. Google validates responses based on a threshold number of consistent answers provided by

guides before publishing the information. Google’s strength in local search advertising is highlighted in section 3.5

of this report. Despite its approach to validation in June 2019 the Wall Street Journal ran an article “Millions of

Business Listings on Google Maps Are Fake – and Google Profits,5” which underlines the challenge Google faces

with its crowdsourced approach. Another downside to Google POI search is that Google does not allow

customization of search results, which limits its Google POI for specific use-cases e.g. specific business use-cases.

HERE has significantly increased the number of places it supports in its POI database to 200 Million, up 60% from

126 Million places last year. HERE has also increased the number of 2D building footprints by 20% year-on-year.

Place Footprints connects a place to the building that it is located in (through the building footprint) and links it to the

address information (address and point address). However, HERE acknowledges it does not provide the type of

detailed and granular metadata about venues which Google can provide.

Mapbox relies on a combination of OSM place data and a recently announced partnership with Foursquare. It has

not provided updated figures from the 105 Million place addresses reported in 2018. Mapbox continues to claim it

supports 2 Billion search requests per week and states that its search services support companies like Facebook,

The Weather Company, Uber, Adobe, Snap and Samsung.

TomTom has marginally increased the number of POIs it currently supports from 120 Million to 128 Million points

globally. TomTom’s POIs are updated depending on how the method of acquisition e.g. from third-party data

sources versus crowdsourcing. Crowdsourced POIs are added once they have passed quality checks while paid

sources will provide updates on a weekly or monthly basis. TomTom claims its search results can be customized to

5 Millions of Business Listings on Google Maps Are Fake – and Google Profits, Wall Street Journal, June 2019

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meet customer requirements e.g. a retailer or business only displaying its stores or premises on a map,

respectively.

4.2.5 Developer Community

Google remains the leader in the location developer community due to the large number of developers

using its location services. However, from a capability perspective HERE, Mapbox and TomTom offer

enterprise and long-tail developers similar, if not better, services. HERE and TomTom have grown

developer traction through partnerships with major developer ecosystems and their developer portals.

Google HERE Mapbox TomTom

Developers 5(5) 4(3.5) 4(4) 2.5(2)

Google remains a leading location platform for developers largely because of the large number of developers and

apps which use its location platform. For some time Google has been able to leverage the strong consumer brand

of Google Map to help acquire customers. Strategy Analytics estimates Google has multiple Millions of developers

that use its map APIs – In September 2019 Google stated its Google Map Platform powers over 5 Million active

apps and website each week. In May 2018, Google stated that it expects “most” Google Map developers to have

monthly usage that will keep them in its free pricing tier, and we expect this still to be the case. Consequently,

Strategy Analytics expects the majority of these developers to be long tail developers e.g. with basic, low volume

requirements, such as a local business embedding a static map into their mobile app or webpage. Google location

APIs are available through its Google Cloud Platform and locked out of competitor platforms like Amazon Web

Services (AWS) and Microsoft Azure. However, since 2018 Google’s location services are also available to

developers via the Unity game engine.

From a products and services perspective Google is largely on par with those of its competitors. Core services like

map tiles, traffic optimized routing, geocoding and places are available from all platforms. As highlighted in section

4.2.4 above, Google outperforms its competitors in place search granularity. However, it underperforms some of its

competitors in other areas like map and data visualization, openness and flexibility, and pricing.

HERE, TomTom and Mapbox continued their strategies to expand the distribution of their location APIs into

big developer and business intelligence ecosystems during 2019. Seamless availability of location services

via multiple developer ecosystems will help grow developers, location API usage, and in turn revenue.

The triple digit growth in developer revenue from its own portal and via partner ecosystems during 2019 is a strong

indicator of the success of HERE’s developer strategy. Beyond its own developer portal HERE location services are

available via AWS Marketplace, AWS Severless, Microsoft Azure Marketplace, MuleSoft and SAP API business

hub. In May 2019 HERE announced the availability of its geo-coding APIs via the MuleSoft Technology Partner

Program. MuleSoft is used by over 230,000 enterprise developers. Making its location services available across

large ecosystems is part of HERE’s ambient location intelligence strategy. During 2019 HERE has further expanded

its relationship with Amazon with its location APIs powering location services within Amazon’s voice assistant,

Alexa. Furthermore, the Alexa voice-assistant will be integrated in to HERE’s navigation-on-demand solution.

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TomTom’s enterprise revenue grew by 27% between the first three quarters of 2019 versus 2018, underlining the

strong growth in its enterprise division. Its enterprise revenue topped €119 Million during this period, versus €94

Million. Notably, TomTom has expanded its relationship with Microsoft, and TomTom will be the leading location

data provider for Microsoft Azure and Bing Maps. Furthermore, TomTom’s location services will power Microsoft’s

connected car platform. TomTom is also a map supplier for data analytics company, Alteryx, where TomTom Map

APIs (geocoding and reverse geocoding) are available in the Alteryrx analytics platform.

Mapbox reports 1.6 Million registered developers to its location platform, and claims over 600 enterprises use its

developer tools. Its registered developer figure has grown from 1.2 Million last year while its monthly active

developer base has grown to 155,000. Mapbox location tools are widely available for use through business

intelligence and analytics software, including Alteryrx, Power BI, and others. In June 2019 Mapbox reported the

availability (in beta-mode) of search, isochrones, and spatial look-up modules in Alteryx. During the same month

Mapbox announced the integration of Sparkgeo’s web analytics tool, Maptiks, into Mapbox GL web maps, enabling

developers using Mapbox GL to access Maptiks map analytics. Mapbox location APIs are also available through to

developers of the Unity games platform, to enable developers to support location-based games.

Competitive pricing and increased marketing of location capabilities is paying off for HERE and TomTom as

both have made progress in growing the sizes of their respective developer communities and enhancing

developer activity through recent initiatives.

HERE has reported strong triple digit growth in both developer traction and revenue from its developer portal and

integration through ecosystem partners, like Amazon Web Services (AWS). It claims the number of direct and

indirect developers is in the ‘millions’ range. HERE provides access to a broader range of location APIs and is

committed to making all HERE’s products and services available to developers. HERE states it has 10 product lines

with 50 products within those. HERE continues to invest strongly in its developer community by providing strong

support, with the aim of enabling access to all of HERE’s content and services via its developer portal in a self-serve

manner. Raxel Telematics, a provider of Telematic services, specifically highlighted HERE’s responsiveness to

support its efforts as a key reason for partnering with HERE. HERE is doubling down on acquiring developers in

India during 2020.

TomTom has stated initiatives to attract disaffected developers from Google have been successful. Albeit from a

small base, TomTom claims its developer portal has achieved double digit growth in terms of registered users,

active users, and transactions. Strategy Analytics estimates that the number of developers using its APIs and SDKs

remains in the tens of thousands range. TomTom also claims it has achieved above average conversion rates of

developers from its free-tier to its paid-tier. During 2018 TomTom announced a number of enterprise customers,

including hotel search company, Trivago, consumer social mapping company, Zenly, and business intelligence

platform, Alteryx, among others, as evidence of growing traction of its enterprise business.

Pricing for location APIs is competitive. Overall, HERE offers the most generous entry pricing for its

locations service, followed by TomTom, Mapbox and then Google. During 2019 Mapbox revised the pricing

of its location services upwards for some APIs (e.g. directions), though its map tiles remain competitive.

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Each of the location companies provides a freemium tier to developers, which enables use of location services up to

defined limits, after which a pay-as-you arrangement typically kicks in. Beyond the freemium tier location companies

offer greater levels of support and access to services required for enterprise level deployments.

HERE offers the most generous free threshold for access to its location APIs, offering 250,000 transactions per

month across all core location APIs in its freemium tier. This compares to Mapbox with 100,000 free monthly

threshold for geocoding and navigation, and then 2,500 per day from TomTom, which equates to 75,000 per month.

Google’s offers a $200 credit, but this does not go far because of the relatively higher pricing of the majority of its

APIs. E.g. Google’s charges vary by location API between $5-17 per 1000 API calls, significantly more expensive

than its competitors. However, Google provides the hook of free static and dynamic map loads when accessed on

mobile devices, while TomTom offers free maps and traffic for mobile SDKs. Mapbox has changed the basis of its

map API pricing from requests to individual loads, which means tile requests are unlimited for vector and raster

maps regardless of device. However, the free threshold for loads is 50,000.

After their respective freemium tiers, TomTom offers the lowest pricing at $0.50 per 1000 transactions across its

APIs (for use on public applications) versus $1 per 1000 transactions from HERE. TomTom’s API pricing is tiered,

which means the price per 1000 transactions decreases at higher volumes. TomTom’s pricing varies for public and

internal use-cases – with internal use working out at $3 per 1000 transactions. The competitiveness of Mapbox

pricing varies by use case. For example, after its free tier Mapbox’s directions, map matching, and matrix APIs are

$2 per 1000 monthly requests versus $0.75 for its temporary geocoding API and $0.50 for its static tiles API.

Google is the most expensive, charging $5 per 1000 for both its direction API and geocoding API. Google charges a

premium for its places details APIs, charging $17 per 1000 requests.

4.2.6 Map and Data Visualization

Mapbox is a leader in location data visualization tools and visualization remains a key strength. Mapbox

Studio enables developers to customize individual map layers and provides developers with access to

visualization tools. HERE’s Studio closes the capability gap with Mapbox Studio, while the launch of

TomTom Styler improves TomTom’s visualization score.

Google HERE Mapbox TomTom

Visualization 4(4) 4(4) 5(5) 3.5(3)

TomTom’s launch of TomTom Styler has been the most significant change in the visualization category this year.

TomTom Styler, has been launched to enable developers to design and customize the look and feel of their own

maps more easily. TomTom claims the ability to customize its maps has always been possible but acknowledges

that prior to the launch of Styler it was complex and cumbersome. Unlike HERE’s Studio (formerly XYZ) TomTom

Styler is not targeting informal users looking to quickly visualize location data, but instead to simplify the ability to

create customized maps.

Mapbox remains a leader in visualization because Mapbox Studio has been used to create strongly differentiated

and custom maps across a number of applications, including Snapchat’s social map. Furthermore, Mapbox has

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achieved impressive adoption by business intelligence (BI) platforms, including Alteryx, IBM Cognos, Microsoft

Power BI, Microstrategy, Tableau, and Uber Kepler GL. Mapbox has raised the bar for data visualization and map

customization for developers. With respect to Augmented Reality (AR), Mapbox has deployed AR solutions in React

Native and Mapbox announced it is partnering with Uber to bring those visualization capabilities to Mapbox

developers.

HERE scores highly in this benchmark following the launch of HERE Studio (formerly XYZ), a location data

management platform, to target students, small and medium businesses, data journalists and cartographers. From

a visualization perspective HERE Studio provides its own map data rendering solution, but also allows location data

stored in the HERE Studio cloud to be viewed using tools such as Leaflet, Tangram, Three.js and Mapbox. It also

features a plug-in for QGIS. During 2019 HERE also introduced a new open source 3D web map renderer, called

harp.gl in beta. Harp.gl uses modern web technologies, e.g. WebGL, three.js and TypeScript.

Beyond the customized options, the map visualization supported by the developer platforms are broadly similar.

Typical map types include 2D street map views, terrain, satellite imagery, and hybrid views, as highlighted in Exhibit

7. Google’s Street View maps are a differentiator, although HERE’s partnership with Mapillary is aimed at providing

similar capabilities. Mapbox’s Vision SDK enables developers to integrate Augmented Reality (AR) into navigation-

based applications as a feature.

Developers can further modify the appearance of these map types by applying different styles, overlaying different

markers, for example changing fonts, the colour of boundaries, etc. Google Map’s offers four basic map types

(roadmap, satellite, hybrid, and terrain) which can be modified using layers and styles, controls and events. Google

offers a map styling wizard and the ability to control the prominence of roads, landmarks and labels. Mapbox

provides some more off-the-shelf variants of its standard 2D Map, offering a light and dark mode. TomTom currently

provides developers with the fewest visualization options via its map APIs and SDK, though TomTom Styler is a

clear enhancement. These options include day, night, and labels only. However, its vector map tiles can be

customized for colour, fonts and labels.

Exhibit 7 Map Visualization Options Provided

Visualization Google HERE Mapbox TomTom

Road Map

Terrain

Satellite

Hybrid

Street view

Augmented Reality

4.2.7 Openness and flexibility:

HERE, Mapbox and TomTom are open and provide developers with greater flexibility than Google. As a

provider of its own services (e.g. search, advertising and navigation) Google restricts the use of its location

services to use-cases where it does not compete.

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Google HERE Mapbox TomTom

Openness/ flexibility 2(2) 5(5) 5(5) 5(5)

Our scores for openness and flexibility have not changed from last year. TomTom makes its APIs available to any

developer to use in conjunction with APIs from other services. During 2019 Mapbox opened up its traffic service for

use with other map providers.

Flexibility and openness is at the heart of HERE’s platform approach. Most notably, HERE now allows the map and

location services of its competitors (including TomTom and Mapbox) to be used by customers of HERE Workspace.

This prevents potential customers that are already licensing maps and location services from HERE competitors

from being locked out of using its Workspace and Marketplace environments. The objective of HERE Workspace

and HERE Marketplace is to enable large enterprises to manage, analyze and productize large sets of location

data. For example, HERE’s location platform is being used to ingest and analyze sensor data from vehicles to

provide enriched services such as HERE’s Hazards and Road Signs products for automotive companies.

HERE has also deployed HERE Studio (formerly HERE XYZ), a cloud-based location platform which enables

developers to ingest, manage and visualize their location data, including via third-party map rendering tools,

including Leaflet, Tangram, and Three.js, among others. The HERE Vector Tile Service uses Web Mercator

projections and follows the industry standard for vector tiles (MVT) which is supported by multiple 3rd party and

open source map renderers. HERE’s primary restriction for its services relate to the provision of future autonomous

use-cases for vehicles and drone navigation - developers are unable to use its developer tools for these use-cases.

Mapbox is an advocate of the open source framework, which it claims gives developers and designers the ability to

choose between new, open and less expensive alternatives like Mapbox. Developers can leverage open source

code into their apps. Examples include IBM incorporating the Mapbox-gl library into its Java Rave rendering engine

that powers Watson Analytics. As an independent location platform Mapbox is not challenged by similar conflicts of

interest as Google. Furthermore, during 2019 Mapbox opened its traffic service to work in conjunction with

competitor maps like HERE and TomTom.

Google applies some notable restrictions on its location services, particularly to avoid potential rivals to its core

business using its services. Google does not allow companies providing a listings service or a directory service to

use Google Core Map services. Companies are unable to use Google Core Map to augment an existing ad product

either. Similarly, Google does not allow developers to use its directions APIs, geo-location APIs, and maps SDK to

create a real-time navigation product which provides functionality similar to its Google Maps for Android App.

Furthermore, Google Core Map services cannot be used in applications which contain a non-Google map. For

example, customers can not display its places listings on a non-Google map, or display street view imagery and

non-Google maps in the same application. Google’s self-driving technology remains proprietary to Waymo, which is

using the technology to power its own fleet of robo-taxis, not supporting vehicle OEMs with their own self-driving

ambitions.

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4.2.8 Vision and Growth Leadership

HERE continues to communicate the strongest vision and innovation across different areas of the location

sector, with its location platform strategy, content, and breadth of applications. Google is building a

position in automotive and autonomous vehicle via Android Auto and Waymo. TomTom remains focused

primarily on building its automotive and enterprise developer business.

Google HERE Mapbox TomTom

Growth Vision 4(4) 5(5) 4(4) 3.5(3)

Google remains focused on adding content to its map to improve its value to users. For example, Google is applying

machine learning (ML) to provide better estimates of delays to bus journey where information from transit authorities

is not available. It is also using data to provide guidance on how full buses are to enable passengers to make more

informed journey related decisions. Google has partnered with providers of mobility solutions (e.g. Lime) and EV

services in order to meet growing demand for information about these transportation modes. From a position of

strength in providing a range of location tools via its Google Maps platform, Google has started to make inroads into

the automotive markets through deals with Volvo, and more recently the Nissan-Mitsubishi-Renault alliance to

deploy cars based on Android Auto. Google’s company Waymo is developing fleets of autonomous taxis, and has

partnered with Renault and Nissan for deployments in France and Japan respectively.

HERE is proactively positioning to solve problems across a broad range of sectors which are increasingly reliant on

location data to enhance performance. HERE has become a more customer-centric organization, and aided by

internal re-organization, listening closely to the needs of companies across key demand sectors, including

automotive companies, transport and logistics, media and advertising, and others.

HERE continues to demonstrate its strong vision for the future of location services as it launches initiatives such as

its location platform (formerly known as HERE Open Location Platform) and its Mobility Marketplace. Strategy

Analytics believes that HERE’s location platform is well placed to benefit as businesses (in automotive and other

sectors) seek insights and competitive advantage through adding context to data generated by the growing installed

base of connected sensors. HERE’s location platform is targeted at large enterprises across a variety of sectors as

a private location cloud for ingesting, normalizing, processing and analysing data generated by sensors to create

business insights. These insights and then productize it into a value-added data product. For example, HERE’s

location platform is being used to aggregate sensor data from the automotive fleets of its partners for processing

and converting into HERE’s Hazard service for vehicle OEMs. HERE’s Mobility Marketplace is designed as a tool to

enable airlines, hotels and other companies to offer their customers mobility options during the booking process.

Mapbox has demonstrated leadership in innovation with the introduction of Vision SDK. The Vision SDK brings

computer vision and machine learning together and it has announced similar plans to ingest and process sensor

data to deliver location-enhanced insights. Strategy Analytics expects recently announced investment from

Softbank to deliver benefits, directly and also indirectly.

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TomTom’s plan for growth remains to focus in a laser like manner on its core automotive business, and also

enabling other companies to leverage its map and location tools via partner B2B cloud-based location services.

Enabling autonomous and assisted driving remain key priorities for its automotive activities, while its Microsoft

partnership is a key pillar for enterprise growth. Microsoft, Moovit and TomTom have partnered to enable a multi-

modal travel application for Azure in 2020. TomTom’s innovation includes IQ Maps. IQ Maps updates maps on-

demand, based on the route which users are taking. By only updating the portion of the map relevant to the driver,

IQ Maps eliminates the need to download the entire country or region map, which would generate a large volume of

irrelevant data. So far IQ Maps is implemented on MG connected car which will be sold in India.

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5. Strengths and Weaknesses

In the previous section Strategy Analytics highlighted specific capabilities on which to benchmark and score the

different location platform providers. However, in reality, enterprises of different types will have different needs and

requirements for their location platform. In this section we highlight the relative strengths and weaknesses of each of

the location platforms. These strengths and weaknesses are summarized in Exhibit 8.

Exhibit 8 Strengths & Weakness Analysis of Major Location Platforms

Relative Strengths Relative Weaknesses

Google Very deep pockets

Strong consumer brand recognition - > Billion monthly active users of Google Maps worldwide

Large base of GPS traces assist real time map changes

Largest number of POIs with the most granular info

> 120 Million Local Guides (2019) contributing POI info

Millions of developers (>5 Million apps and websites use Google Map APIs on a weekly basis)

Indoor venue maps - 10,000 locations

Weak in automotive - perceived as a strategic threat to carmakers

No China presence

Fake-listings remain an ongoing challenge

Concerns over privacy & use of data for advertising

Its location services are behind a walled garden

Google is locked out of large developer ecosystems like Azure and Amazon Web Services (AWS)

HERE Well resourced – 9K employees globally.

Strong in map content licensing and automotive

Influential investors and partnerships in key LBS growth areas – autonomous driving

Global coverage, including China, Japan and S.Korea

Strong growth vision and product lines

Full range of map making tools

Large enterprise customers (e.g. Amazon, MSFT)

Offline (hybrid) mode in absence of connectivity

Strong indoor venue marketplace

Weak in long-tail developer v Google and Mapbox

Location data is not considered “live”

Mapbox 600 M monthly active location (GPS) probes

Leader in map data visualization

Independent and based on open principles

Location leader in Business Intelligence (BI) sector

Large developer community > 1.5 Million registered devs. o/w >150K monthly active

Investment from Softbank

Presence in China

Fewest employees – over 500 globally

Doesn’t control its own map; OSM dependence

Susceptible to malicious map edits

Weak in automotive

Weak indoor/ venue coverage

TomTom Strong in map content licensing and automotive

Leader in traffic data (live and historic)

Focused on automotive and enterprise

Flexible for developers

Aggressive pricing of location services

600 Million active GPS probe points

Less well-resourced:

Reliant on Apple for probe data

Weak indoor/ venue coverage

Location data is not considered “live”

Declining consumer

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5.1 Google

Relative Strengths Relative Weaknesses

Google Very deep pockets

Strong consumer brand recognition - a Billion monthly active users of Google Maps worldwide

Large base of GPS traces assist real time map changes

Google search is very popular for local search and offers superior granularity

> 120 Million Local Guides (2019) contributing POI info

Millions of developers (>5 Million apps and websites use Google Map APIs on a weekly basis)

Weak in automotive - perceived as a strategic threat to carmakers

No presence in China

Fake-listings remain an ongoing challenge

Not independent

Concerns over privacy & use of data for advertising

Location data is walled garden

Google is locked out of large developer ecosystems like Azure and Amazon Web Services (AWS)

During 2019 Google has stated it has spent the last 12 months increasing the stability, reliability, and performance

of its platform to guarantee it meets its 99.9% uptime SLA.

5.1.1 Strengths

Very deep pockets: Across its major competitors, Google has the deepest pockets which it can used for map-

making, map maintenance, and evolving its platform to target services and applications which run on top of its

maps. Although Google not all of Google’s income will be used to support Google Maps, for context, Alphabet,

Google’s net income for 2018 approached $30.74 Billion. This compares to $142 Million EBITDA for TomTom.

Popular consumer app: Google Maps is a very popular consumer brand (outside China) and has over 1 Billion

users which delivers the following competitive advantages which includes: a huge number of probe data from

smartphones to assist Google with map maintenance (e.g. new turn restrictions, new roads or routes, etc.);

sufficient number of probes to offer crowd-sourced data on traffic flows on major roads; and from a UX perspective

ideal for developers looking to drop in familiar and recognizable location services into their services. Google states it

receives over 2 million pieces of information each day from its users.

Popular for local search: Google’s popularity as a search engine has improved its ability to capture business

details. Put simply, many businesses are motivated to claim and advertise on Google (and Google Maps) because

Google is one of the main channels consumers use to research and find a broad range of local businesses.

Businesses are incentivized to include useful information to listing to improve their organic search rank, leading to

Google being able to serve up granular information for consumers.

Large community of local guides: To ensure place information remains as fresh as possible Google has amassed

a base of over 120 Million Google Map users as Local Guides which assist Google in adding useful granular

information to its place listings, e.g. opening times, parking availability, wheelchair access, restroom facilities, etc.

Large developer base: Google Maps remains the most widely used location-platform by developers, although

pricing changes have created a reason for developers to seek alternative platforms. Google claims over 5 Million

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apps and websites use its map services on a weekly basis, although it admits it does not generate revenue from

“most” of these because they only drive limited usage of location services.

5.1.2 Weaknesses

Google perceived as a threat: Until recently, Google’s ambitions to supply vehicle makers with location services

have been stifled because of carmakers’ strategic ambitions to retain control of the in-vehicle experience for drivers

and passengers. By providing premium infotainment services carmakers want to capture value-added opportunities.

Google providing its services is considered a threat to these plans, although deals with Volvo and the Nissan,

Renault, Mitsubishi alliance may alter the perception of other carmakers.

Not independent: Google provides search, advertising, navigation products for mobile and in-vehicle to consumers

and businesses. Therefore, Google restricts developers from using its map services if they are building products

which compete with Google’s own offerings.

Fake-listings: As a consequence of the strength of its place search Google has been a target for criminal activity

and fake business listings. Google relies on business owner claiming their business addresses and attempts to

verify this information, though criminals have been able to bypass these methods.

Google is a closed platform: Although Google provides tools for developers its map data remains behind the wall

garden and developers are not allowed to mix location services from different providers. For example, Google

prevents developers from using Google map tiles with TomTom’s traffic service.

No presence in China: Google’s services are banned in China which makes its mapping platform useless for

developers looking to deploy location services in China.

5.2 HERE

Relative Strengths Relative Weaknesses

HERE Well resourced – 9K employees globally

Influential ownership and strategic partners

Strong in map content licensing and automotive

Investors and partnerships in key LBS growth areas – autonomous driving and China

Independent

Strong quality checks and assurance

Strong growth vision and product lines on key verticals

Full range of map making tools

Large enterprise customers (e.g. Amazon, MSFT)

Offline (hybrid) mode in absence of connectivity

Strong indoor venue marketplace

Not as well funded as Google

Weak in longtail developer versus Google and Mapbox

Location data is not considered truly “live”

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5.2.1 Strengths

Owners and investors: HERE’s parents are carmakers Audi, BMW and Daimler, but HERE has received additional

investment from Intel, Pioneer, Bosch, Continental, Mitsubishi Corp, and NTT. HERE partners with investor

companies to identify future services and technology they can work on to deploy for consumers and businesses. For

example, it is working with Continental on autonomous driving and Bosch across multiple areas such as

autonomous driving, transportation and IoT. HERE is also well resourced and claims to have over 9,000 employees

globally. HERE is positioning as a strategic partner for companies across multiple sectors looking for an alternative

to Google.

Established automotive supplier: HERE’s map content powers a large share of embedded infotainment units and

as a consequence HERE has a strong reputation as a provider of automotive grade maps and navigation software.

As carmakers move from licensing map content to a more efficient platform-orientated business model, HERE and

TomTom are under threat from Google and Mapbox.

Independent: Unlike Google, HERE is independent, despite Audi, BMW and Daimler as its parents. The only

restrictions that HERE applies for developers is for the use of its location services in future applications such as

autonomous vehicles and drone navigation.

Forward looking and innovative: HERE’s strategic vision remains forward looking and extremely impressive as it

positions to be a premium tier location partner across multiple domains. HERE claims its location platform is

successfully targeting a large number of verticals, e.g. transport and logistics, asset tracking, and opening up new

opportunities and relevance for location enriched data. HERE’s location platform has been used by HERE to pool

vehicle sensor data from Audi, BMW and Daimler to create its road hazards product. HERE has also created

products which are customized for the needs of mobility service providers, including the mobility marketplace it

launched at CES in 2018.

Strong quality checks and assurance: HERE maintains a strict vetting and checking process across all its data

streams to ensure accuracy in it map updates. This is critical for use-cases where safety and needs for assurance

are critical.

Indoor mapping strength: HERE has detailed floorplans for over 20,000 venues. It has also developed a marketplace

to enable venue owners to provide their floorplans across a variety of different publishers, including Garmin and Motorola.

Hybrid map capability: HERE offers developers access to its hybrid mapping function, which allows users to

download maps to their device for offline use. This capability is useful when users do not always have a data

connection such as when travelling to other countries, when in areas with no or bad connectivity, or in large parts of

the world where connectivity is not that ubiquitous yet.

5.2.2 Weaknesses

Not as well funded as Google: Although the names of companies which have invested in HERE is impressive

Strategy Analytics expects HERE not to have a similar scale of resources at its disposal as Google.

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Weak in longtail developer versus Google: HERE has a strong automotive presence and is well suited to

meeting the needs of this sector and large enterprises. Historically, HERE has no focused on long tail developers,

but over the past 18-24 months has started initiatives like HERE Studio and introduced a freemium location offer to

encourage the longer tail of developers.

Location data is not considered “live”: As a consequence of HERE’s automotive strengths it location platform is

geared to meet the needs of companies in this sector. Therefore, HERE provides validated, automotive-grade map

updates on a weekly refresh cycle rather than on a real-time basis like Google and Mapbox.

5.3 Mapbox

Relative Strengths Relative Weaknesses

Mapbox 600 M monthly active location (GPS) probes

Leader in map data visualization

Independent and based on open principles

Location leader in Business Intelligence (BI) sector

Large developer community > 1.5 M registered devs. o/w >150K monthly active

Investment and support from Softbank

Operates from lower cost base

Not as well funded as Google or HERE

Fewest employees – over 500 globally

Doesn’t control its own map; OSM dependence

Doesn’t have its own HD map for autonomous

Susceptible to malicious map edits

Weak and building slowly in automotive

Weak indoor/ venue coverage

5.3.1 Strengths

Softbank Investment: While Mapbox does not have the resources to compete directly with Google or HERE,

Strategy Analytics believes Mapbox stands to benefit both directly and indirectly from Softbank investment. A good

example of this is that Yahoo! Japan has selected Mapbox to support its location services in Japan. Softbank is also

an investor in Yahoo Japan.

Map Visualization: Mapbox’s leadership and strength in map data visualization, providing location visualization

tools for the business intelligence sector, and GPS probe data from 600 Million monthly active users have been

highlighted throughout section 4 of the report.

Developers: Mapbox has been built from the beginning to provide an alternative independent map platform for

developers. As an independent provider it does not have a problem of conflict of interest like Google does. It has

grown its developer base from 1.1 Million to 1.5 Million, with over 150K monthly active.

5.3.2 Weaknesses

Not as well funded as Google or HERE: Despite investment from Softbank it does not have the resources to

match Google, HERE or TomTom.

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Map making process: Mapbox doesn’t build its own map per se, but relies on OSM as a foundational layer.

Mapbox uses 150 sources of data in total to build its map. However, although Mapbox is a contributor to OSM, OSM

lacks a formal review process. For some enterprises the use of OSM as a basis is considered a weakness due to

lack of provenance and patchy coverage. Reliance on probe data is excellent for change detection but misses

details without additional sources and complimentary collection methods. Reliance on crowd sourcing results in its

continued risk from vandalism.

Weak in automotive: As a relatively newcomer to the automotive sector Mapbox does not benefit from the same

established relationships which HERE and TomTom have with carmakers. Mapbox has continued to struggle to

build momentum in this sector. Mapbox location services are used to power ride-hailing services like lyft and used

for mobile apps from Subaru, and Porsche.

Limited indoor map coverage: Indoor maps are not a focus for Mapbox and it uses a partner to achieve this.

5.4 TomTom

Relative Strengths Relative Weaknesses

TomTom Strong in map content licensing and automotive

Leader in traffic data (live and historic) – TomTom claims 80% traffic market share in Europe and 40% in North America

Independent

Very focused on automotive and enterprise

Strong quality checks and assurance

Flexible for developers

Aggressive pricing of location services

Strategically aligned with Microsoft

600 Million active probe points

Not as well funded as Google or HERE

Apple is reducing reliance on TomTom

Weak indoor/ venue coverage

Location data is not considered “live”

Declining consumer business (PND) risks stability

5.4.1 Strengths

Established automotive supplier: TomTom’s map content powers a large share of embedded infotainment units

and like HERE, TomTom has a strong reputation as a provider of automotive grade maps and navigation software.

As carmakers move from licensing map content to a more efficient platform-orientated business model, HERE and

TomTom are under threat from Google and Mapbox.

A leader in traffic data: TomTom is considered a leader in traffic data and is able to rely on probe data from Apple

smartphone to enrich its other traffic data sources.

Independent: Unlike Google, TomTom remains independent.

Strong quality checks and assurance: TomTom maintains a vetting and checking process across all its data

streams to ensure accuracy in it map updates. This is critical for use-cases where safety and needs for assurance

are critical.

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Flexibility: TomTom is considered a leader in traffic data and is able to rely on probe data from Apple smartphone

to enrich its other traffic data sources. It’s map services can be used in combination with location services from

other providers.

5.4.2 Weaknesses

Not as well funded as Google or HERE: TomTom has 5K employees globally compared to HERE’s 9K. The

decline in its PND (consumer) business have not yet been offset by gains in its automotive and enterprise. TomTom

has sold its telematics division following a strategic review in 2018. It will now focus on core areas like automotive

and business-to-business (B2B).

Apple is reducing its reliance on TomTom: Although the relationship between Apple and TomTom will remain,

Apple has elected to reduce its reliance on TomTom for map data, and will rely more on its own data efforts and

sensor equipped vans and probe data. TomTom relies heavily on probe data from Apple and this remains at risk.

Limited indoor map coverage: Indoor maps are not a focus for TomTom, which represents a gap as consumers

expect blue dot navigation and directions outdoors and indoors.

Location data is not considered “live”: As a consequence of TomTom’s automotive strengths it location platform

is geared to meet the needs of companies in this sector. Therefore, TomTom provides validated, automotive-grade

map updates on a weekly refresh cycle rather than on a real-time basis like Google and Mapbox.

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6. How Can We Help You?

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solutions:

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Please contact us at Custom@strategyanalytics.com with any questions and for further details and solutions

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